Mock advertisement from 1973 with an image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

French postcard. Photo: Phonogram/Raymond Bounon. Publicity still for the record Baby alone in Baylone (1983).

In the Swinging Sixties, shy, awkward-looking British actress Jane Birkin (1946) made a huge international splash as one of the nude models in Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966). In France she became the muse of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote several of her albums, plus their explicitly erotic duet Je t'aime... moi non plus. Later she worked with such respected film directors as Jacques Rivette, Agnès Varda and Jacques Doillon, and won several acting awards.

Jane Mallory Birkin was born in London in 1946. Her mother, Judy Campbell, was an English stage actress, an her father, David Birkin, was a Royal Navy lieutenant-commander, who had worked on clandestine operations as navigator with the French Resistance. Her brother is the screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin. She was educated at Upper Chine School, Isle of Wight, and then went to Kensington Academy. At 17, she first went on stage in Graham Greene's 1964 production Carving a Statue. A year later she was chosen to play in the musical comedy Passion Flower Hotel with music by John Barry (composer of the James Bond theme). They met and married shortly afterwards. Their daughter Kate Barry, now a photographer, was born in 1967. Jane emerged in the Swinging London scene of the 1960’s. First she appeared uncredited as a girl on a motorbike in the comedy The Knack …and How to Get It (1965, Richard Lester) starring Rita Tushingham. Then she attracted attention with a brief scene as a nude blonde model in Blowup (1966), Michelangelo Antonioni's scandalous film that received the Palme d'or award at the Cannes Film Festival. She also played a fantasy-like model in the psychedelic Wonderwall (1968, Joe Massot). That same year, she auditioned in France for the lead female role in Slogan (1969, Pierre Grimblat) with pop star Serge Gainsbourg, who was still grieving after his break up with Brigitte Bardot. Jane barely spoke French, and Gainsbourg gave her a rough time. When she burst into tears, mixing private sadness about John Barry and the film part, he disapproved, but he recognized that she cried well in front of the camera. Jane got the part, and a mythical and passionate Paris love story began. She performed with him on the film's theme song, La chanson de slogan — the first of many collaborations between the two. They became inseparable and a living legend when they recorded the duet Je t'aime... moi non plus (I love you... me neither), a song Gainsbourg originally had written for Brigitte Bardot. The song's fame is partly a result of its salacious lyrics, sung by Gainsbourg and Birkin to a background of passionate whispering and moaning from Birkin, concluding in her simulated orgasm. Censorship in several countries went wild, the Vatican condemned the immoral nature of the song, and in Great Britain the BBC refused to play the original, and did their own orchestral version. The record benefited from all the free publicity and rocketed straight to the top of the charts, selling a million copies in a matter of months.

At the Côte d'Azur, Jane Birkin played in the thriller La Piscine/The Swimming Pool (1969, Jacques Deray) in which she was seduced by Alain Delon. Then she went with Serge Gainsbourg to Yugoslavia to play in the adventure film Romansa konjokradice/Romance of a horse thief (1971, Abraham Polonsky) starring Yul Brynner. In 1971 her daughter, the actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg was born. Birkin took a break from acting, but returned as the lover of Brigitte Bardot (in her final film role) in Don Juan ou Si Don Juan était une femme.../Don Juan 73 (1973, Roger Vadim). Her first solo album, Di Doo Dah, was also released in 1973. The title song became another chart hit. In the cinema she played 'cute but stupid' roles in box office hits as La moutarde me monte au nez/Lucky Pierre (1974, Claude Zidi) and La course à l’échalotte/The Wild Goose Chase (1975, Claude Zidi), two popular comedies starring Pierre Richard. She proved herself as a film actress in Le Mouton enragé/Love at the Top (1974, Michel Deville) starring Romy Schneider, and the highly dramatic Sept morts sur ordonnance/Seven Deaths by Prescription (1975, Jacques Rouffio) opposite Michel Piccoli. In 1975, she also appeared with Joe Dallesandro in Gainsbourg's daring directorial début Je t'aime... moi non plus (1976, Serge Gainsbourg). The film created a stir for its frank examination of sexual ambiguity and controversial sex scenes. For her performance as an androgynous looking teenager she was nominated for a Best Actress César Award. In the meantime, her second album Lolita go home (1975) came out, on which she sang Philippe Labro's lyrics set to Gainsbourg's music. Three years later, her Ex-fan des sixties (1978) was released. Birkin starred in a series of mainstream films such as L'Animal/Stuntwoman (1977, Claude Zidi) with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile (1978, John Guillermin) and Evil Under the Sun (1982, Guy Hamilton), with Peter Ustinov as Belgian detective Hercule Porot. In the arthouse production Egon Schiele Exzess und Bestrafung/Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment (1980, Herbert Vesely), she appeared as the mistress of Austrian artist Egon Schiele, played by Mathieu Carrière.

Serge Gainsbourg had plunged into several major bouts of alcoholism and depression, resulting in all-night partying and scandals, and in 1980 Jane Birkin left him. The couple remained on good terms. Birkin starred as Anne in La fille prodigue/The Prodigal Daughter (1981, Jacques Doillon). Jacques Doillon proved to be her dream of a director, who imposed his own personal style of drama, and brought out the very best of her. She went to live with him, and in 1982 she had her third daughter Lou Doillon. She also appeared as Alma opposite Maruschka Detmers in La pirate/The Pirate (1984, Jacques Doillon), for which she was nominated for a César Award. This work led to an invitation from Patrice Chéreau to star on stage in La Fausse suivante (The False Servant) by Pierre de Marivaux. Gainsbourg, suffering from the separation, wrote Baby alone in Babylone for her. The record won the Charles Cross award and became a gold record. She began to appear frequently on stage in plays and concerts in France, Japan, the U.K. and then the U.S. Film director Jacques Rivette collaborated with her in L'amour par terre/Love on the Ground (1983, Jacques Rivette) starring Geraldine Chaplin, and La Belle Noiseuse/The Beautiful Troublemaker (1991, Jacques Rivette ) with Michel Piccoli and Emmanuelle Béart. Again Birkin was nominated for the César for best supporting actress for both films. She created a sensation as star and screenwriter of director Agnès Varda's Kung Fu Master (1987), in which she played a 40-year-old woman carrying on a torrid affair with a 15-year-old boy (played by Mathieu Demy, Varda's own son). The following year, Varda expressed her admiration for Birkin with the feature-length documentary Jane B. par Agnes V (1988, Agnès Varda). Also Birkin’s work in Dust (1985, Marion Hänsel) with Trevor Howard, and Daddy Nostalgie (1990, Bertrand Tavernier) opposite Dirk Bogarde earned her the praise and respect of international critics. Additionally, she appeared in Merchant Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998, James Ivory) and Merci Docteur Rey (2002, Andrew Litvack) with Dianne Wiest, while the end title song of Le Divorce (2003, James Ivory) featured her singing L'Anamour, composed by Gainsbourg. In 2006, she played the title role in Elektra, directed by Philippe Calvario in France. In 1990 Serge Gainsbourg had dedicated a new album to her: Amours des feintes. It was to be his last. He died in 1991. A year later Birkin won the Female Artist of the Year award at the 1992 Victoires de la Musique. In 1993 she separated from Jacues Doillon. In the following years she devoted herself to her family and to her humanitarian work with Amnesty International on immigrant welfare and AIDS issues. Birkin visited Bosnia, Rwanda and Palestine, often working with children. In 2001, she was awarded the OBE. She has also been awarded the French Ordre national du Mérite in 2004. Jane Birkin continues to make films, theatre and music. She collaborated with such artists as Bryan Ferry, Manu Chao, Françoise Hardy, Rufus Wainwright, and Les Negresses Vertes on albums as Rendez-Vous (2004) and Fictions (2006). The self-penned Enfants d'Hiver arrived in 2008. At the Cannes Film Festival 2007, she presented a film, both as a director and actor: Boxes (2007) with Michel Piccoli, Geraldine Chaplin, and her daughter Lou Doillon. Her most recent film appearance was in Si tu meurs, je te tue/If you die, I’ll kill you (2011, Hiner Saleem) with Jonathan Zaccaï.

Sources: JaneBirkin.net, Hal Erickson (Rovi), John Bush (AllMusic), RFI Musique, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960's British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Watch videos of Darla here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt3FiYKXI9s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqduiIZDjfI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdm5_6AFJ0o

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWEjfTX2gIM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrOXzMAiQYo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUVTZDYFpW8

Vintage press photo by UIP / United Artists, no.156/29. Photo: Lorey Sebastian. Nathan Lane as Starina in The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996).

The American comedy The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996) is the American remake of the French-Italian film La Cage aux folles/Birds of a Feather) (Édouard Molinaro, 1978) which was based on actor-playwright Jean Poiret's play 'La Cage Aux Folles' (1973). Director Mike Nichols teamed up with his former partner/screenwriter Elaine May for the first time in many years and for the first time together in films to create this sophisticated, remake of the phenomenally popular French musical farce. The film stars Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart - pre-Ally McBeal, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles.

Jean Poiret's original play 'La Cage aux Folles' ran for almost 1,800 performances, from 1973 to 1978, at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. The French film version, La Cage aux folles/Birds of a Feather( Édouard Molinaro, 1978) starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault, was also a considerable commercial success. It became one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films released in the United States of all time. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for three Oscars: Best Director (Molinaro), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Costume Design. Michel Serrault won the César Award for Best Actor. The film was followed by two sequels: La Cage aux Folles II (1980), also directed by Molinaro, and La Cage aux folles 3 - 'Elles' se marient (1985), directed by Georges Lautner. The 1983 Broadway musical 'La Cage aux Folles' based on the play and the film, was also successful. In 1996, an American remake titled The Birdcage was released and relocated to South Beach. It was the first time Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who helped define improvisational comedy in the 1950s, worked together on a film. The stars were Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

Val (Dan Futterman) and Barbara (Calista Flockhart) are engaged to be married. For a long time, they have wanted to avoid their parents' meeting but now it really has to happen. However, this does not seem very simple. Val's father Armand (Robin Williams) owns a gay nightclub called The Birdcage in South Miami Beach. His long-time lover, Albert (Nathan Lane), stars there as Starina. Barbara's father (Gene Hackman) is an ultra-conservative senator from the Republican Party and co-founder of the Committee for Moral Order. The Senator and family descend upon South Beach to meet Val, his father and "mother." Role-play is set in motion to avoid a negative reaction from Barbara's moralistic parents. What ensues is comic chaos. Three songs written by Stephen Sondheim were adapted and arranged for the film by composer Jonathan Tunick. Albert's first song (as Starina) is 'Can That Boy Foxtrot,' cut from Sondheim's Follies. 'Little Dream' was written specifically for the film, and ultimately used during Albert's rehearsal with the gum-chewing dancer. While Armand and Katharine dance in her office, they sing 'Love Is in the Air', cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In addition to the Sondheim songs, Tunick utilized dance-style music such as Donna Summer's 'She Works Hard for the Money' and 'We Are Family', along with Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine's 'Conga'.

TheBirdcage (1998) grossed $18,275,828 in its opening weekend, topping the box office. It remained at No. 1 for the next three weeks. The film received positive reviews upon its release. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times: "What makes Mike Nichols' version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles, and a wicked screenplay by Elaine May, who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there ('Live on Fisher Island and get buried in Palm Beach - that way you'll get the best of Florida!')." Derek Armstrong at AllMovie: "Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is a funny, slapstick, but ultimately slight farce, notable as a forerunner in the movement to make gay characters mainstream and profitable at the box office. It succeeded big time, winning a broad audience and raking in close to $125 million. It's rare that another actor gets to upstage Robin Williams, but Nathan Lane does so wonderfully, playing an ungracefully ageing drag queen who performs at the Miami nightclub owned by Williams, his subdued life partner." The Birdcage was nominated for, among others, an Academy Award for art direction and Golden Globes for best comedy and best comedy actor (Nathan Lane). In addition, the film actually won American Comedy Awards for the funniest lead actor (Lane) and most humorous supporting actress (Dianne Wiest) and a Screen Actors Guild Award for all actors' acting.

Source: Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Derek Armstrong (AllMovie), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Images of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Vintage press photo by UIP / United Artists, no. 90/13A. Photo: Lorey Sebastian. Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest and Calista Flockhart in The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996).

The American comedy The Birdcage (Mike Nichols, 1996) is the American remake of the French-Italian film La Cage aux folles/Birds of a Feather) (Édouard Molinaro, 1978) which was based on actor-playwright Jean Poiret's play 'La Cage Aux Folles' (1973). Director Mike Nichols teamed up with his former partner/screenwriter Elaine May for the first time in many years and for the first time together in films to create this sophisticated, remake of the phenomenally popular French musical farce. The film stars Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart - pre-Ally McBeal, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles.

Jean Poiret's original play 'La Cage aux Folles' ran for almost 1,800 performances, from 1973 to 1978, at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. The French film version, La Cage aux folles/Birds of a Feather( Édouard Molinaro, 1978) starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault, was also a considerable commercial success. It became one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films released in the United States of all time. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for three Oscars: Best Director (Molinaro), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Costume Design. Michel Serrault won the César Award for Best Actor. The film was followed by two sequels: La Cage aux Folles II (1980), also directed by Molinaro, and La Cage aux folles 3 - 'Elles' se marient (1985), directed by Georges Lautner. The 1983 Broadway musical 'La Cage aux Folles' based on the play and the film, was also successful. In 1996, an American remake titled The Birdcage was released and relocated to South Beach. It was the first time Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who helped define improvisational comedy in the 1950s, worked together on a film. The stars were Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

Val (Dan Futterman) and Barbara (Calista Flockhart) are engaged to be married. For a long time, they have wanted to avoid their parents' meeting but now it really has to happen. However, this does not seem very simple. Val's father Armand (Robin Williams) owns a gay nightclub called The Birdcage in South Miami Beach. His long-time lover, Albert (Nathan Lane), stars there as Starina. Barbara's father (Gene Hackman) is an ultra-conservative senator from the Republican Party and co-founder of the Committee for Moral Order. The Senator and family descend upon South Beach to meet Val, his father and "mother." Role-play is set in motion to avoid a negative reaction from Barbara's moralistic parents. What ensues is comic chaos. Three songs written by Stephen Sondheim were adapted and arranged for the film by composer Jonathan Tunick. Albert's first song (as Starina) is 'Can That Boy Foxtrot,' cut from Sondheim's Follies. 'Little Dream' was written specifically for the film, and ultimately used during Albert's rehearsal with the gum-chewing dancer. While Armand and Katharine dance in her office, they sing 'Love Is in the Air', cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In addition to the Sondheim songs, Tunick utilized dance-style music such as Donna Summer's 'She Works Hard for the Money' and 'We Are Family', along with Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine's 'Conga'.

TheBirdcage (1998) grossed $18,275,828 in its opening weekend, topping the box office. It remained at No. 1 for the next three weeks. The film received positive reviews upon its release. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times: "What makes Mike Nichols' version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles, and a wicked screenplay by Elaine May, who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there ('Live on Fisher Island and get buried in Palm Beach - that way you'll get the best of Florida!')." Derek Armstrong at AllMovie: "Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is a funny, slapstick, but ultimately slight farce, notable as a forerunner in the movement to make gay characters mainstream and profitable at the box office. It succeeded big time, winning a broad audience and raking in close to $125 million. It's rare that another actor gets to upstage Robin Williams, but Nathan Lane does so wonderfully, playing an ungracefully ageing drag queen who performs at the Miami nightclub owned by Williams, his subdued life partner." The Birdcage was nominated for, among others, an Academy Award for art direction and Golden Globes for best comedy and best comedy actor (Nathan Lane). In addition, the film actually won American Comedy Awards for the funniest lead actor (Lane) and most humorous supporting actress (Dianne Wiest) and a Screen Actors Guild Award for all actors' acting.

Source: Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Derek Armstrong (AllMovie), Sandra Brennan (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960's British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Mock magazine cover from 1964 with an image of myself as Edith Taylor, a 1960s British aristocrat and mod fashion model from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Honey Irani is an Indian actress , screenwriter and Author. She started her career as a child actor with roles in films such as Mahesh Kaul’s Pyar ki Pyas. She was probably four to five years old when the shooting of the movies Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan and Bombay Ka Chor started. She has acted in over 72 films.

She met the script-writer and poet Javed Akhtar on the sets of Seeta Aur Geeta, and got married in 1972. She is the mother of film-makers Zoya Akther and Farhan Akther.

Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Images of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Images of myself as both Alexei Mishkin, a 1960s Russian KGB agent and assassin, and Tatiana Veranova, a 1960s Ukrainian ballerina and KGB spy, from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

An image of myself as Anjali Sengupta, a 1960s British-Indian tea plantation owner from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Italian postcard by CIAK. Photo: Giovanni Cozzi / TDR. Photo: publicity still for Viola bacia tutti/Viola Kisses Everybody (Giovanni Veronesi, 1998) .

Asia Argento (1975) is an Italian actress, singer, model, and director. She is the daughter of Giallo specialist Dario Argento and appeared in several of her father’s films. She won several awards and starred in many international films.

Aria Asia Maria Vittoria Rossa Argent was born in 1975. Her mother is actress Daria Nicolodi and her father is Dario Argento, an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, well known for his work in the Italian Giallo genre and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies. Her maternal great-grandfather was composer Alfredo Casella. When Asia Argento was born in Rome, the city registry office refused to acknowledge Asia as an appropriate name, and instead officially inscribed her as Aria Argento. As a child she was lonely and depressed, owing in part to her parents' work. At age eight, Argento published a book of poems, and at the age of 14, she ran away from home. She also started acting at the age of nine, playing a small role in the TV Miniseries Sogni e bisogni/Dreams and needs (Sergio Citti, 1985), starring Giulietta Masina. Two years later, she had a small part in Dèmoni 2/Demons 2 (Lamberto Bava, 1986), which was written and produced by her father. She also appeared in its sequel, the horror film La Chiesa/The Church (Michele Soavi, 1989), when she was 14. It was produced by Dario Argento with Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori. Her next film was the teen drama Le amiche del cuore/Close Friends (Michele Placido, 1992), which was entered into the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. When she was 18, Argento starred in her father’s Giallo Trauma (Dario Argenta, 1993) about murders in a psychiatric hospital. The character played by Asia was inspired by her half-sister Anna (Nicolodi's daughter from a previous marriage) who suffered from anorexia like Asia’s character in the film. Trauma was Dario Argento's first feature length American production and the cast featured American actors like Piper Laurie, Frederic Forrest and Brad Nourif. Asia received the David di Donatello (Italy's version of the Academy Award) for Best Actress in 1994 for her performance in the comedy Perdiamoci di vista/Let's Not Keep in Touch (1993) written, directed and starred by Carlo Verdone. She won another David di Donatello for her role opposite Michel Piccoli in Compagna di viaggio/Traveling Companion (Peter Del Monte, 1996), which also earned her a Grolla d'oro award. A large box office hit when released in Italy was the horror film La Sindrome di Stendhal/The Stendhal Syndrome (Dario Argento, 1995), starring Asia opposite Thomas Kretschmann. La Sindrome di Stendhal was the first Italian film to use computer-generated imagery (CGI). It was Dario Argento's highest grossing film in Italy.

Asia Argento has proven her ability to work in multiple languages. In France, she played the supporting role of Charlotte de Sauve in the period film La Reine Margot/Queen Margot (Patrice Chéreau, 1994), starring Isabelle Adjani. The film was an international box-office success, and won the Jury Prize and Best Actress Award at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, as well as five César Awards. Later French films with her were the thriller La sirène rouge/The Red Siren (Olivier Megaton, 2002) with Jean-Marc Barr, the drama Transylvania (Tony Gatlif, 2006) and the thriller Boarding Gate (Olivier Asayas, 2008) with Michael Madsen. In 1998, Asia Argento began appearing in English-language films, such as the crime film B. Monkey (Michael Radford, 1998), opposite Jared Harris and Rupert Everett, and the Cyberpunk film New Rose Hotel (Abel Ferrara, 1998) with Christopher Walken and Willem Dafoe. That same year, she made her first foray into directing, calling the shots behind the short films Prospettive and A ritroso. In 1996, she had directed a documentary on her father, and in 1998 she directed a second one on Abel Ferrara, which won her the Rome Film Festival Award. She also starred with Julian Sands in her father’s Il fantasma dell'opera/The Phantom of the Opera (Dario Argento, 1998), adapted from the novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux, although there are many differences between the book and the film (the biggest: the Phantom is not disfigured).

In 2000, Asia Argento directed and wrote her first feature film, the semi-autobiographical Scarlet Diva (2000), in which she also starred. It was a family affair. Her mother played her Asia’s character’s mother, her uncle Claudia Argento produced the film and her father co-produced. Four years later she directed her second film, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004), in which she starred with Peter Fonda as her father and Ornella Muti as her mother. In the US, she starred in the action film xXx (Rob Cohen, 2002) with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson, which was a commercial success. Other films in which she starred were The Keeper (2004, Paul Lynch) with Dennis Hopper, Last Days (Gus Van Sant, 2005) starring Michael Pitt, and George A. Romero's post-apocalyptic horror film Land of the Dead (2005). She played Madame DuBarry in the historical drama Marie Antoinette (2006), written and directed by Sofia Coppola. Argento reunited with Abel Farrara for Go Go Tales (Abel Ferrara, 2007) starring Willem Dafoe. In France she appeared in Une vieille maîtresse/The Last Mistress (Catherine Breillat, 2007), based on a controversial novel by the French writer Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly. The film was entered into the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Then followed s starring role in her father’s supernatural horror film La Terza madre/The Mother of Tears (Dario Argento, 2007) with her mother Daria Nicolodi and Udo Kier co-starring. The is the concluding instalment of Argento's supernatural horror trilogy The Three Mothers, which began with Suspiria in 1977. More recent films include the Italian drama Isole/Islands (Stefano Chiantini, 2011), the comedy Baciato dalla fortuna (Paolo Costella, 2011) – a huge hit in Italy, and Dracula (Dario Argento, 2012) starring Thomas Kretschmann and Rutger Hauer. In addition to her cinematic accomplishments, Argento has written a number of stories for magazines, while her first novel, titled I Love You Kirk, was published in Italy in 1999. She has modelled for and endorses the brand Miss Sixty. She became a fan of the band Hondo Maclean when they wrote a track named after her. She liked the track so much she sent them pictures which they used as the cover of their 2003 EP Plans for a better day. Her first child, Anna Lou, was born in 2001. Italian rock and roll musician Marco Castoldi (lead singer of Bluvertigo), also known as Morgan, is the father. She named her daughter after her half-sister Anna Ceroli, who died in a motorcycle accident. Argento married film director Michele Civetta in 2008 in Arezzo. Her second child, Nicola Giovanni, was born that year in Rome.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

French postcard. Photo: Sygma. Caption: Steven Spielberg during the shooting of The Lost World - Jurassic Park (1996).

American film director, screenwriter and producer Steven Spielberg (1946) became successful in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s through his imaginative mainstream films in which he combined a simple story with beautiful special effects, bombastic music, and non-stop suspense and spectacle. Blockbusters like Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998) brought in unprecedented profits and had a huge impact on the film industry. Besides these grand spectacles, he also made acclaimed smaller personal stories such as The Color Purple (1985), and Schindler's List (1993), in which emotions are even more central. 11 of his films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and seven have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Steven Allan Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, USA, in 1946. He was the only son of Arnold and Leah Spielberg. His parents were Jews of Ukrainian descent. He has three more younger sisters. Because Steven's father was a computer expert, he had to move a lot from city to city, which caused the young Steven to move more than twelve times in his youth. However, he spent most of his childhood in Phoenix, Arizona. Spielberg grew up in typical American suburbs. It is precisely these sleepy suburbs that would return frequently in his films later on. Spielberg was known as a dreamy and shy little boy who preferred to watch television or fantasize. As a child, he had a fascination with aliens, World War II, and television. All these subjects would later come into play in his films. Spielberg's social problems were compounded as he was bullied for his Jewish ancestry. All of this changed when he came into contact with the film camera. Spielberg said about this later in an interview: "When I started filming I realized that I only had one talent: making films. The boys in my class thought my films were fantastic and suddenly I was no longer bullied." Spielberg began making films with an 8mm camera, often featuring the local boy scouts. In 1961 Spielberg made his first war film Escape to Nowhere, a 30-minute silent color film about a group of American soldiers in Africa, who have to take on the Germans. The film was shot in the Arizona desert. Spielberg won first prize at an amateur film festival with this film. This prize was a 16mm camera. Spielberg bought a magnetic recorder from his last money, with which he could add sound to the 16mm images. Spielberg worked on his own feature film every weekend for a year. His first feature Firelight was premiered in 1963. It was a two-hour low-budget Science-Fiction film, which was shown in numerous local cinemas. Spielberg went to study at the California Media Academy. Then, at the age of 22, he attempted to move to the film department of the prestigious University of Southern California. Spielberg was rejected and then decided to make a film himself. He made the 20-minute romantic comedy Amblin', which was shown at the Atlanta Film Festival. Spielberg took it to Universal Studios and moved into an empty office there. In this way, Spielberg managed to give the impression that he was already a professional director. In his portfolio, he only had the movie Amblin'. This brutality earned him a seven-year contract with Universal television productions at the age of 22. For Universal, Spielberg directed an episode of Columbo and several episodes of Night Gallery. In 1971 Spielberg had a big breakthrough with the TV Movie Duel (1971), adapted from Richard Matheson's short story of the same title. It is about a psychotic tanker truck driver who chases a terrified salesman (Dennis Weaver) down a highway. Duel was such a success that it was released as a feature film in cinemas in Europe. Duel's unexpected success sparked the interest of feature film studios. This allowed Spielberg to start making feature films.

Steven Spielberg's first feature was only a moderate success: The Sugarland Express (1974) about a married couple (Goldie Hawn and William Atherton) on the run, desperate to regain custody of their baby from foster parents. Based on a true story, the film marked Spielberg's first of many collaborations with composer John Williams. Although his feature debut was honored for Best Screenplay at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, it was not a commercial success, but his second film broke all cinema records. The horror-thriller Jaws (1975), starring Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, and Roy Scheider, was made on a budget of a few million dollars but was the first film to bring in a profit of more than 100 million dollars. Against expectations, the film was a critical success; Jaws won three Academy Awards, in Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Best Sound, and grossed more than $470 million worldwide. This made Spielberg at once the number 1 director of Hollywood. After this, Spielberg made a big-budget remake of his own amateur film Firelight, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) starring Richard Dreyfuss, for which Spielberg wrote the screenplay himself. Spielberg received his first Best Director nomination from the Academy Awards. After his first commercial flop, the big-budget action-comedy 1941 (1979) with John Belushi, he was successful with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) introducing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Raiders of the Lost Ark had two sequels during the 1980s: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) became the most successful film in terms of revenues to date, until Spielberg's own Jurassic Park surpassed it in 1993. His drama The Color Purple (1985) starring Whoopi Goldberg, received no fewer than eleven Academy Award nominations but did not win any of the Oscars. Then followed some commercially less successful films: Empire of the Sun (1987), Always (1989), and Hook (1991), a variation on the children's story 'Peter Pan', in which the adult Peter Pan (Robin Williams) returns to Neverland. However, in 1993 Spielberg returned to form with Jurassic Park (1993) and Schindler's List (1993), which were both commercially and artistically successful. Jurassic Park, a special effects-loaded adaptation of Michael Crichton's book of the same name, cost $ 70 million, but brought in $ 100 million in its first nine days, a record at the time. Spielberg's portrait of the gentle Nazi party member Oskar Schindler (Ralph Fiennes), earned him his highly anticipated Oscar for Best Picture and Best Direction. It took Spielberg about ten years to develop the project. Steven Zaillian wrote the script based on Thomas Keneally's Holocaust novel, which won him the Booker Prize. Spielberg's black-and-white docudrama received the most critical acclaim of his entire career. Spielberg declined to be paid for directing the film. He called any salary "blood money," and his royalties were donated to the Survivors of the Shoah Foundation. Although Spielberg has always continued to produce (a lot) for film and TV (and occasionally a computer game), after Schindler's List he stepped back from the director's chair for a few years.

Steven Spielberg returned with three films released in quick succession: the slave drama Amistad (1997), the sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and Saving Private Ryan (1998), a fourth film about the Second World War. Saving Private Ryan gave Spielberg his second Oscar for Best Direction. Just after the turn of the century, Spielberg worked on his "Running Man" trilogy, with A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) about an android called David (Haley Joel Osment) who wants to be a real boy, the futuristic Neo-Noir Minority Report (2002) with Tom Cruise as Chief of PreCrime John Anderton, and Catch Me If You Can (2002) about the adventures of a young con artist (Leonardo DiCaprio). The film was a critical and commercial success. A few years later another trilogy followed: the lighthearted comedy The Terminal (2004) with Tom Hanks, a modern adaptation of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds (2005) starring Tom Cruise, and Munich (2005), about the aftermath of the hostage drama during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. In December 2005, he, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen sold DreamWorks SKG to Paramount Pictures Corporation for $1.6 billion. Then he directed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), the highly anticipated fourth installment in the film series about archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones. Next followed The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (2011), based on the comic series The Adventures of Tintin by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé. At about the same time, War Horse (2011) was released, in which Spielberg first dealt with the First World War. The film became a moderate commercial and artistic success. More successful was the historical drama Lincoln (2012), which won two Oscars, including one for Daniel Day-Lewis, who won his third Best Actor Oscar, as President Abraham Lincoln. More recent films include the Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies (2015), based on the 1960 U-2 incident, the historical political thriller The Post (2017) an account of The Washington Post's printing of the Pentagon Papers starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, and the Science-Fiction action-adventure Ready Player One (2018). Spielberg was also the executive producer of the well-received mini-series Band of Brothers about the European campaign of American soldiers during World War II, which he followed in 2009 with a similar series about the Asian campaign: The Pacific. Spielberg's greatest successes as an (executive) producer include the Men in Black films, the Back to the Future trilogy, the first Shrek, Twister, The Mask of Zorro and its sequel, The Goonies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cape Fear, Gremlins, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, JJ Abrams's Super 8 and family films like Casper, The Flintstones and Monster House. Most of these films were produced on behalf of Spielberg's production company Amblin Entertainment, which he founded in 1981 with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Even though the stories that Spielberg tells are very diverse, there are a number of recurring elements that can be identified. This includes the absent father (figure), an ordinary person discovering something extraordinary, telling children's views, and/or showing the whole or part of the story from their point of view. Spielberg likes to play with the viewer's emotions, ranging from strongly reasoned shock moments to moments of emotion. In all his films (except The Color Purple) Spielberg used his regular film composer John Williams. Furthermore, Tom Hanks (6 times) and Tom Cruise (2 times) have recently had lead roles in Spielberg's films, while Hanks was also a co-producer of Band of Brothers. Starring in four Indiana Jones films and a deleted scene from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Harrison Ford is also an old acquaintance of Spielberg. In the early years of his career, Spielberg often took on Richard Dreyfuss as his protagonist. As a producer, Spielberg contributed extensively to the beginnings of Robert Zemeckis' career, culminating in the popular Back to the Future trilogy. In addition to filmmaking, he co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks. Spielberg was married to actress Amy Irving from 1985 to 1989. When they divorced in 1989, she received $ 100 million from Spielberg after a judge ruled that the prenuptial agreement written on a napkin was valid. Their divorce was one of the three most costly in the history of celebrity divorce. After the divorce, Spielberg and Irving were given joint custody of their son, Max Samuel. Spielberg then got into a relationship with actress Kate Capshaw, whom he met when he selected her for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They were married in 1991. Capshaw converted to Judaism. In the family, there are seven children, including (his stepdaughter) actress Jessica Capshaw.

Source: Wikipedia (English and Dutch), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

An image of myself as one of the characters I played in my one-man showcase -- a production written, directed, produced, and edited entirely by me and in which I portray over 100 different characters in more than 50 scenes.

The showcase can be viewed in its entirety at:

lazrojas.com/showcase/

or

www.youtube.com/user/lazfilm2

Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

An image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960's British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

German postcard by Känguruhpress im Gebr. König Postkartenverlag, Köln, no. K. 2007. Photo: Julian Gotha.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) was a German film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor. Fassbinder was part of the New German Cinema movement. Starting at age 21, Fassbinder made over forty films and TV dramas in fifteen years, along with directing numerous plays for the theatre. He also acted in nineteen of his own films as well as for other directors. Fassbinder died in 1982 at the age of 37 from a lethal cocktail of cocaine and barbiturates.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder was born in Bavaria in the small town of Bad Wörishofen in 1945. The aftermath of World War II deeply marked his childhood and the lives of his bourgeois family. He was the only child of Liselotte Pempeit, a translator and Helmut Fassbinder, a doctor who worked out of the couple's apartment in Sendlinger Strasse, near Munich's red light district. In 1951, his parents divorced. Helmut moved to Cologne while Liselotte raised her son as a single parent in Munich. In order to support herself and her child, Pempeit took in boarders and found employment as a German to English translator. When she was working, she often sent her son to the cinema in order to concentrate. Later in life, Fassbinder claimed that he saw a film nearly every day and sometimes as many as three or four. As he was often left alone, he became independent and uncontrollable. He clashed with his mother's younger lover Siggi, who lived with them when Fassbinder was around eight or nine years old. He had a similar difficult relationship with the much older journalist Wolff Eder, who became his stepfather in 1959. Early in his adolescence, Fassbinder identified as homosexual. As a teen, Fassbinder was sent to boarding school. His time there was marred by his repeated escape attempts and he eventually left school before any final examinations. At the age of 15, he moved to Cologne and stayed with his father for a couple of years while attending night school. To earn money, he worked small jobs and helped his father who rented shabby apartments to immigrant workers. Around this time, Fassbinder began writing short plays and stories and poems. In 1963, aged eighteen, Fassbinder returned to Munich with plans to attend night school with the idea to eventually study theatrical science. Following his mother's advice, he took acting lessons and from 1964 to 1966 attended the Fridl-Leonhard Studio for actors in Munich. There, he met Hanna Schygulla, who would become one of his most important actors. During this time, he made his first 8mm films and took on small acting roles, assistant director, and sound man. During this period, he also wrote the tragic-comic play: Drops on Hot Stones. To gain entry to the Berlin Film School, Fassbinder submitted a film version of his play Parallels. He also entered several 8 mm films including This Night (now considered lost) but he was turned down for admission, as were the later film directors Werner Schroeter and Rosa von Praunheim. He returned to Munich where he continued with his writing. He also made two short films, Der Stadtstreicher,/The City Tramp (1965) and Das Kleine Chaos/The Little Chaos (1966). Shot in black and white, they were financed by Fassbinder's lover, Christoph Roser, an aspiring actor, in exchange for leading roles. Fassbinder acted in both of these films which also featured Irm Hermann. In the latter, his mother – under the name of Lilo Pempeit – played the first of many parts in her son's films.

In 1967 Rainer Werner Fassbinder joined the Munich Action-Theater, where he was active as an actor, director and script writer. After two months he became the company's leader. In April 1968 Fassbinder directed the premiere production of his play Katzelmacher, the story of a foreign worker from Greece who becomes the object of intense racial, sexual, and political hatred among a group of Bavarian slackers. A few weeks later, in May 1968, the Action-Theater was disbanded after its theatre was wrecked by one of its founders, jealous of Fassbinder's growing power within the group. It promptly reformed as the Anti-Theater under Fassbinder's direction. The troupe lived and performed together. This close-knit group of young actors included among them Fassbinder, Peer Raben, Harry Baer and Kurt Raab, who along with Hanna Schygulla and Irm Hermann became the most important members of his cinematic stock company. Working with the Anti-Theater, Fassbinder continued writing, directing and acting. In the space of eighteen months he directed twelve plays. Of these twelve plays, four were written by Fassbinder; he rewrote five others. The style of his stage directing closely resembled that of his early films, a mixture of choreographed movement and static poses, taking its cues not from the traditions of stage theatre, but from musicals, cabaret, films and the student protest movement. Fassbinder used his theatrical work as a springboard for making films. Shot in black and white with a shoestring budget in April 1969, Fassbinder's first feature-length film, Liebe ist kälter als der Tod/Love is Colder than Death (1969), was a deconstruction of the American gangster films of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Fassbinder plays the lead role of Franz, a small-time pimp who is torn between his mistress Joanna, a prostitute (Hanna Schygulla), and his friend Bruno, a gangster sent after Franz by the syndicate that he has refused to join. His second film, Katzelmacher (1969), was received more positively, garnering five prizes after its debut at Mannheim. From then on, Fassbinder centered his efforts in his career as film director, but he maintained an intermittent foothold in the theatre until his death. Fassbinder’s first ten films (1969–1971) were an extension of his work in the theatre, shot usually with a static camera and with deliberately unnaturalistic dialogue. Wikipedia: “He was strongly influenced by Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect) and the French New Wave cinema, particularly the works of Jean-Luc Godard.” Fassbinder developed his rapid working methods early. Because he knew his actors and technicians so well, Fassbinder was able to complete as many as four or five films per year on extremely low budgets. This allowed him to compete successfully for the government grants needed to continue making films. Unlike the other major auteurs of the New German Cinema, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, who started out making films, Fassbinder's stage background was evident throughout his work.

In 1971, Rainer Werner Fassbinder took an eight-month break from filmmaking. During this time, Fassbinder turned for a model to Hollywood melodrama, particularly the films German émigré Douglas Sirk made in Hollywood for Universal-International in the 1950s: All That Heaven Allows, Magnificent Obsession and Imitation of Life. Fassbinder was attracted to these films not only because of their entertainment value, but also for their depiction of various kinds of repression and exploitation. Fassbinder scored his first domestic commercial success with Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971). Loneliness is a common theme in Fassbinder's work, together with the idea that power becomes a determining factor in all human relationships. His characters yearn for love, but seem condemned to exert an often violent control over those around them. A good example is Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) which was adapted by Fassbinder from his plays. Wildwechsel/Jailbait (1973 is a bleak story of teenage angst, set in industrial northern Germany during the 1950s. Like in many other of his films, Fassbinder analyses lower middle class life with characters who, unable to articulate their feelings, bury them in inane phrases and violent acts. Fassbinder first gained international success with Angst essen Seele auf/Fear Eats the Soul (1974). which won the International Critics Prize at Cannes and was acclaimed by critics everywhere as one of 1974's best films. Fear Eats the Soul was loosely inspired by Sirk's All That Heaven Allows (1955). It details the vicious response of family and community to a lonely aging white cleaning lady (Brigitte Mira) who marries a muscular, much younger black Moroccan immigrant worker. In these films, Fassbinder explored how deep-rooted prejudices about race, sex, sexual orientation, politics and class are inherent in society, while also tackling his trademark subject of the everyday fascism of family life and friendship. He learned how to handle all phases of production, from writing and acting to direction and theatre management. This versatility surfaced in his films where he served as composer, production designer, cinematographer, producer and editor.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final films, from around 1977 until his death, were more varied, with international actors sometimes used and the stock company disbanded, although the casts of some films were still filled with Fassbinder regulars. Despair (1978) is based upon the 1936 novel of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov, adapted by Tom Stoppard and featuring Dirk Bogarde. It was made on a budget of 6,000,000 DEM, exceeding the total cost of Fassbinder's first fifteen films. In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden/In a Year of Thirteen Moons (1978) is Fassbinder most personal and bleakest work. The film follows the tragic life of Elvira, a transsexual formerly known as Erwin. In the last few days before her suicide, she decides to visit some of the important people and places in her life. Fassbinder became increasingly more idiosyncratic in terms of plot, form and subject matter in films like his greatest success Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Die Dritte Generation/The Third Generation (1979) and Querelle (1982). Returning to his explorations of German history, Fassbinder finally realized his dream of adapting Alfred Döblin's 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980). A television series running more than 13 hours, it was the culmination of the director's inter-related themes of love, life, and power. Fassbinder took on the Nazi period with Lili Marleen (1981), an international co production, shot in English and with a large budget. The script was vaguely based on the autobiography of World War II singer Lale Andersen, The Sky Has Many Colors. He articulated his themes in the bourgeois milieu with his trilogy about women in post-fascist Germany: Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Lola (1981) and Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss/Veronika Voss (1982), for which he won the Golden Bear at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival. Fassbinder did not live to see the premiere of his last film, Querelle (1982), based on Jean Genet's novel Querelle de Brest. The plot follows the title character, a handsome sailor (Brad Davis) who is a thief and hustler. Frustrated in a homoerotic relationship with his own brother, Querelle betrays those who love him and pays them even with murder.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder had sexual relationships with both men and women. He rarely kept his professional and personal life separate and was known to cast family, friends and lovers in his films. Early in his career, he had a lasting, but fractured relationship with Irm Hermann, a former secretary whom he forced to become an actress. Fassbinder usually cast her in unglamorous roles, most notably as the unfaithful wife in The Merchant of Four Seasons and the silent abused assistant in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. In 1969, while portraying the lead role in the T.V film Baal under the direction of Volker Schlöndorff, Fassbinder met Günther Kaufmann, a black Bavarian actor who had a minor role in the film. Despite the fact that Kaufmann was married and had two children, Fassbinder fell madly in love with him. The two began a turbulent affair which ultimately affected the production of Baal. Fassbinder tried to buy Kaufmann's love by casting him in major roles in his films and buying him expensive gifts. The relationship came to an end when Kaufmann became romantically involved with composer Peer Raben. After the end of their relationship, Fassbinder continued to cast Kaufmann in his films, albeit in minor roles. Kaufmann appeared in fourteen of Fassbinder's films, with the lead role in Whity (1971). Although he claimed to be opposed to matrimony as an institution, in 1970 Fassbinder married Ingrid Caven, an actress who regularly appeared in his films. Their wedding reception was recycled in the film he was making at that time, The American Soldier. Their relationship of mutual admiration survived the complete failure of their two-year marriage. In 1971, Fassbinder began a relationship with El Hedi ben Salem, a Moroccan Berber who had left his wife and five children the previous year, after meeting him at a gay bathhouse in Paris. Over the next three years, Salem appeared in several Fassbinder productions. His best known role was Ali in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974). Their three-year relationship was punctuated with jealousy, violence and heavy drug and alcohol use. Fassbinder finally ended the relationship in 1974 due to Salem's chronic alcoholism and tendency to become violent when he drank. Shortly after the breakup, Salem went to France where he was arrested and imprisoned. He hanged himself while in custody in 1977. News of Salem's suicide was kept from Fassbinder for years. He eventually found out about his former lover's death shortly before his own death in 1982 and dedicated his last film, Querelle, to Salem. Fassbinder's next lover was Armin Meier. Meier was a near illiterate former butcher who had spent his early years in an orphanage. He also appeared in several Fassbinder films in this period. After Fassbinder ended the relationship in 1978, Meier deliberately consumed four bottles of sleeping pills and alcohol in the kitchen of the apartment he and Fassbinder had previously shared. His body was found a week later. In the last four years of his life, his companion was Juliane Lorenz), the editor of his films during the last years of his life. On the night of 10 June 1982, Fassbinder took an overdose of cocaine and sleeping pills. When he was found, an unfinished script for a film on Rosa Luxemburg was lying next to him. His death marked the end of New German Cinema.

Steve Cohn at IMDb: “Above all, Rainer Werner Fassbinder was a rebel whose life and art was marked by gross contradiction. Known for his trademark leather jacket and grungy appearance, Fassbinder cruised the bar scene by night, looking for sex and drugs, yet he maintained a flawless work ethic by day. Actors and actresses recount disturbing stories of his brutality toward them, yet his pictures demonstrate his deep sensitivity to social misfits and his hatred of institutionalized violence.”

Sources: Steve Cohn (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

German postcard by Verlag Hias Schaschko, München (Munich), no. 214. Photo: Mario Mach. Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Rosel Zech, winning the Golden Bear award for Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss/Veronika Voss (1982) at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) was a German film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor. Fassbinder was part of the New German Cinema movement. Starting at age 21, Fassbinder made over forty films and TV dramas in fifteen years, along with directing numerous plays for the theatre. He also acted in nineteen of his own films as well as for other directors. Fassbinder died in 1982 at the age of 37 from a lethal cocktail of cocaine and barbiturates.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder was born in Bavaria in the small town of Bad Wörishofen in 1945. The aftermath of World War II deeply marked his childhood and the lives of his bourgeois family. He was the only child of Liselotte Pempeit, a translator and Helmut Fassbinder, a doctor who worked out of the couple's apartment in Sendlinger Strasse, near Munich's red light district. In 1951, his parents divorced. Helmut moved to Cologne while Liselotte raised her son as a single parent in Munich. In order to support herself and her child, Pempeit took in boarders and found employment as a German to English translator. When she was working, she often sent her son to the cinema in order to concentrate. Later in life, Fassbinder claimed that he saw a film nearly every day and sometimes as many as three or four. As he was often left alone, he became independent and uncontrollable. He clashed with his mother's younger lover Siggi, who lived with them when Fassbinder was around eight or nine years old. He had a similar difficult relationship with the much older journalist Wolff Eder, who became his stepfather in 1959. Early in his adolescence, Fassbinder identified as homosexual. As a teen, Fassbinder was sent to boarding school. His time there was marred by his repeated escape attempts and he eventually left school before any final examinations. At the age of 15, he moved to Cologne and stayed with his father for a couple of years while attending night school. To earn money, he worked small jobs and helped his father who rented shabby apartments to immigrant workers. Around this time, Fassbinder began writing short plays and stories and poems. In 1963, aged eighteen, Fassbinder returned to Munich with plans to attend night school with the idea to eventually study theatrical science. Following his mother's advice, he took acting lessons and from 1964 to 1966 attended the Fridl-Leonhard Studio for actors in Munich. There, he met Hanna Schygulla, who would become one of his most important actors. During this time, he made his first 8mm films and took on small acting roles, assistant director, and sound man. During this period, he also wrote the tragic-comic play: Drops on Hot Stones. To gain entry to the Berlin Film School, Fassbinder submitted a film version of his play Parallels. He also entered several 8 mm films including This Night (now considered lost) but he was turned down for admission, as were the later film directors Werner Schroeter and Rosa von Praunheim. He returned to Munich where he continued with his writing. He also made two short films, Der Stadtstreicher,/The City Tramp (1965) and Das Kleine Chaos/The Little Chaos (1966). Shot in black and white, they were financed by Fassbinder's lover, Christoph Roser, an aspiring actor, in exchange for leading roles. Fassbinder acted in both of these films which also featured Irm Hermann. In the latter, his mother – under the name of Lilo Pempeit – played the first of many parts in her son's films.

In 1967 Rainer Werner Fassbinder joined the Munich Action-Theater, where he was active as an actor, director and script writer. After two months he became the company's leader. In April 1968 Fassbinder directed the premiere production of his play Katzelmacher, the story of a foreign worker from Greece who becomes the object of intense racial, sexual, and political hatred among a group of Bavarian slackers. A few weeks later, in May 1968, the Action-Theater was disbanded after its theatre was wrecked by one of its founders, jealous of Fassbinder's growing power within the group. It promptly reformed as the Anti-Theater under Fassbinder's direction. The troupe lived and performed together. This close-knit group of young actors included among them Fassbinder, Peer Raben, Harry Baer and Kurt Raab, who along with Hanna Schygulla and Irm Hermann became the most important members of his cinematic stock company. Working with the Anti-Theater, Fassbinder continued writing, directing and acting. In the space of eighteen months he directed twelve plays. Of these twelve plays, four were written by Fassbinder; he rewrote five others. The style of his stage directing closely resembled that of his early films, a mixture of choreographed movement and static poses, taking its cues not from the traditions of stage theatre, but from musicals, cabaret, films and the student protest movement. Fassbinder used his theatrical work as a springboard for making films. Shot in black and white with a shoestring budget in April 1969, Fassbinder's first feature-length film, Liebe ist kälter als der Tod/Love is Colder than Death (1969), was a deconstruction of the American gangster films of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Fassbinder plays the lead role of Franz, a small-time pimp who is torn between his mistress Joanna, a prostitute (Hanna Schygulla), and his friend Bruno, a gangster sent after Franz by the syndicate that he has refused to join. His second film, Katzelmacher (1969), was received more positively, garnering five prizes after its debut at Mannheim. From then on, Fassbinder centered his efforts in his career as film director, but he maintained an intermittent foothold in the theatre until his death. Fassbinder’s first ten films (1969–1971) were an extension of his work in the theatre, shot usually with a static camera and with deliberately unnaturalistic dialogue. Wikipedia: “He was strongly influenced by Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect) and the French New Wave cinema, particularly the works of Jean-Luc Godard.” Fassbinder developed his rapid working methods early. Because he knew his actors and technicians so well, Fassbinder was able to complete as many as four or five films per year on extremely low budgets. This allowed him to compete successfully for the government grants needed to continue making films. Unlike the other major auteurs of the New German Cinema, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, who started out making films, Fassbinder's stage background was evident throughout his work.

In 1971, Rainer Werner Fassbinder took an eight-month break from filmmaking. During this time, Fassbinder turned for a model to Hollywood melodrama, particularly the films German émigré Douglas Sirk made in Hollywood for Universal-International in the 1950s: All That Heaven Allows, Magnificent Obsession and Imitation of Life. Fassbinder was attracted to these films not only because of their entertainment value, but also for their depiction of various kinds of repression and exploitation. Fassbinder scored his first domestic commercial success with Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971). Loneliness is a common theme in Fassbinder's work, together with the idea that power becomes a determining factor in all human relationships. His characters yearn for love, but seem condemned to exert an often violent control over those around them. A good example is Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) which was adapted by Fassbinder from his plays. Wildwechsel/Jailbait (1973 is a bleak story of teenage angst, set in industrial northern Germany during the 1950s. Like in many other of his films, Fassbinder analyses lower middle class life with characters who, unable to articulate their feelings, bury them in inane phrases and violent acts. Fassbinder first gained international success with Angst essen Seele auf/Fear Eats the Soul (1974). which won the International Critics Prize at Cannes and was acclaimed by critics everywhere as one of 1974's best films. Fear Eats the Soul was loosely inspired by Sirk's All That Heaven Allows (1955). It details the vicious response of family and community to a lonely aging white cleaning lady (Brigitte Mira) who marries a muscular, much younger black Moroccan immigrant worker. In these films, Fassbinder explored how deep-rooted prejudices about race, sex, sexual orientation, politics and class are inherent in society, while also tackling his trademark subject of the everyday fascism of family life and friendship. He learned how to handle all phases of production, from writing and acting to direction and theatre management. This versatility surfaced in his films where he served as composer, production designer, cinematographer, producer and editor.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final films, from around 1977 until his death, were more varied, with international actors sometimes used and the stock company disbanded, although the casts of some films were still filled with Fassbinder regulars. Despair (1978) is based upon the 1936 novel of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov, adapted by Tom Stoppard and featuring Dirk Bogarde. It was made on a budget of 6,000,000 DEM, exceeding the total cost of Fassbinder's first fifteen films. In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden/In a Year of Thirteen Moons (1978) is Fassbinder most personal and bleakest work. The film follows the tragic life of Elvira, a transsexual formerly known as Erwin. In the last few days before her suicide, she decides to visit some of the important people and places in her life. Fassbinder became increasingly more idiosyncratic in terms of plot, form and subject matter in films like his greatest success Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Die Dritte Generation/The Third Generation (1979) and Querelle (1982). Returning to his explorations of German history, Fassbinder finally realized his dream of adapting Alfred Döblin's 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980). A television series running more than 13 hours, it was the culmination of the director's inter-related themes of love, life, and power. Fassbinder took on the Nazi period with Lili Marleen (1981), an international co production, shot in English and with a large budget. The script was vaguely based on the autobiography of World War II singer Lale Andersen, The Sky Has Many Colors. He articulated his themes in the bourgeois milieu with his trilogy about women in post-fascist Germany: Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Lola (1981) and Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss/Veronika Voss (1982), for which he won the Golden Bear at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival. Fassbinder did not live to see the premiere of his last film, Querelle (1982), based on Jean Genet's novel Querelle de Brest. The plot follows the title character, a handsome sailor (Brad Davis) who is a thief and hustler. Frustrated in a homoerotic relationship with his own brother, Querelle betrays those who love him and pays them even with murder.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder had sexual relationships with both men and women. He rarely kept his professional and personal life separate and was known to cast family, friends and lovers in his films. Early in his career, he had a lasting, but fractured relationship with Irm Hermann, a former secretary whom he forced to become an actress. Fassbinder usually cast her in unglamorous roles, most notably as the unfaithful wife in The Merchant of Four Seasons and the silent abused assistant in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. In 1969, while portraying the lead role in the T.V film Baal under the direction of Volker Schlöndorff, Fassbinder met Günther Kaufmann, a black Bavarian actor who had a minor role in the film. Despite the fact that Kaufmann was married and had two children, Fassbinder fell madly in love with him. The two began a turbulent affair which ultimately affected the production of Baal. Fassbinder tried to buy Kaufmann's love by casting him in major roles in his films and buying him expensive gifts. The relationship came to an end when Kaufmann became romantically involved with composer Peer Raben. After the end of their relationship, Fassbinder continued to cast Kaufmann in his films, albeit in minor roles. Kaufmann appeared in fourteen of Fassbinder's films, with the lead role in Whity (1971). Although he claimed to be opposed to matrimony as an institution, in 1970 Fassbinder married Ingrid Caven, an actress who regularly appeared in his films. Their wedding reception was recycled in the film he was making at that time, The American Soldier. Their relationship of mutual admiration survived the complete failure of their two-year marriage. In 1971, Fassbinder began a relationship with El Hedi ben Salem, a Moroccan Berber who had left his wife and five children the previous year, after meeting him at a gay bathhouse in Paris. Over the next three years, Salem appeared in several Fassbinder productions. His best known role was Ali in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974). Their three-year relationship was punctuated with jealousy, violence and heavy drug and alcohol use. Fassbinder finally ended the relationship in 1974 due to Salem's chronic alcoholism and tendency to become violent when he drank. Shortly after the breakup, Salem went to France where he was arrested and imprisoned. He hanged himself while in custody in 1977. News of Salem's suicide was kept from Fassbinder for years. He eventually found out about his former lover's death shortly before his own death in 1982 and dedicated his last film, Querelle, to Salem. Fassbinder's next lover was Armin Meier. Meier was a near illiterate former butcher who had spent his early years in an orphanage. He also appeared in several Fassbinder films in this period. After Fassbinder ended the relationship in 1978, Meier deliberately consumed four bottles of sleeping pills and alcohol in the kitchen of the apartment he and Fassbinder had previously shared. His body was found a week later. In the last four years of his life, his companion was Juliane Lorenz), the editor of his films during the last years of his life. On the night of 10 June 1982, Fassbinder took an overdose of cocaine and sleeping pills. When he was found, an unfinished script for a film on Rosa Luxemburg was lying next to him. His death marked the end of New German Cinema.

Steve Cohn at IMDb: “Above all, Rainer Werner Fassbinder was a rebel whose life and art was marked by gross contradiction. Known for his trademark leather jacket and grungy appearance, Fassbinder cruised the bar scene by night, looking for sex and drugs, yet he maintained a flawless work ethic by day. Actors and actresses recount disturbing stories of his brutality toward them, yet his pictures demonstrate his deep sensitivity to social misfits and his hatred of institutionalized violence.”

Sources: Steve Cohn (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

French postcard by Éditions Hazan, Paris, 1996. Photo: Raymond Depardon / Magnum. Caption: Jean Seberg and Jean-Luc Godard after the shooting of À bout de souffle.

Jean-Luc Godard (1930) is a French film director and screenwriter. He is one of the most important members of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave). Godard first received global acclaim for his feature À bout de souffle/Breathless (1959), helping to establish the New Wave movement. Godard's films have inspired many directors including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Altman, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Wong Kar-wai. He has been married twice, to actresses Anna Karina and Anne Wiazemsky, both of whom starred in several of his films.

Jean-Luc Godard was born in Paris in 1930. His father was a doctor who owned a private clinic, and his mother came from a preeminent family of Swiss bankers. The family returned to Switzerland during World War II. In 1949 he started studying ethnology at the Sorbonne. During this period he got to know François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette and Éric Rohmer. In 1950 he started a film newspaper 'Gazette du cinéma' with Rivette and Rohmer and collaborated on their films. In January 1952 he started writing for the film magazine 'Les cahiers du cinéma', which had been founded the year before by André Bazin. In 1953 he worked as a construction worker at a dam in Switzerland. With the money he earned, he made his first film, Opération Béton/Operation Concrete, a short documentary film about the construction of the dam. In 1956 he returned to France and resumed his work at Cahiers. During that time he made several short comedies and tributes to Mack Sennett and Jean Cocteau. In 1959 he directed his first feature film, À bout de souffle/Breathless (1960), based on a screenplay by François Truffaut. This film played a key role in the birth of the Nouvelle Vague. It broke with many then prevailing conventions, with its references and influences from the American (gangster) film, the low budget, and the rough editing. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg starred and the film was a huge success with audiences and critics. Godard won the Silver Bear for this film at the Berlin Film Festival 1960. Jean Seberg was nominated for a BAFTA Award. That year Godard also married Anna Karina, who would appear in many of his films. In 1964 they formed a production company, Anouchka Films. They divorced in 1965.

In 1961 Jean-Luc Godard made his first colour film, the comedy Une femme est une femme/A Woman Is a Woman (1961) starring Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, and Jean-Paul Belmondo. It is a tribute to American musical comedy, filmed in cinemascope. Godard proved to be very productive during those years. His first flop, the war film Les Carabiniers/The Carabineers (1963), was a tribute to Jean Vigo. That year he also made one of his greatest successes, Le Mépris/Contempt (1963) with Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, and Fritz Lang. Then followed Bande à part/Band of Outsiders (1964) with Anna Karina and Sami Frey, Pierrot le fou/Crazy Pierrot (1965) with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina, and the Science-Fiction film Alphaville/Alphaville: A Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution (1965) with Eddie Constantine. The film won the Golden Bear award of the 15th Berlin International Film Festival in 1965. Other films from those years were Masculin, feminin (1966) with Jean-Pierre Léaud, and Week-end (1967) with Mireille Darc. Around the student uprisings of 1968, Godard became interested in Maoism. At that time he started an experimental political phase, which lasted until 1980. In the summer of 1968, together with Jean-Pierre Gorin, among others, he founded the Dziga Vertov Group, which wanted to make "political films political". Some films from that time are Le Gai Savoir (1968), Pravda and One Plus One/Sympathy for the Devil (1968), the latter of which includes a unique recording of the studio build-up by the Rolling Stones of the classic Sympathy for the Devil. In 1972 he made Tout va bien (1972), with Jane Fonda and Yves Montand in the lead roles, followed by Letter to Jane, a film about a photograph of Jane Fonda, which Gorin and Godard discuss. In 1972 he also met Anne-Marie Miéville, his later wife, with whom he made many films. This phase ended in 1980.

After twelve years of low budget, militant left-wing, and otherwise experimental film and video projects outside of commercial distribution, Jean-Luc Godard's first film that was more mainstream and accessible again was the drama Sauve qui peut (la vie)/Every Man for Himself (1980) with Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, and Nathalie Baye. His films after that time are more autobiographical. For example, in Sauve qui peut (la vie)/Every Man for Himself there was a character named Godard. In 1982 and 1983 he made three related films Passion (1982), Prénom Carmen (1983) and Je vous salue, Marie (1984). The latter film was dismissed as blasphemy by the Catholic Church. The film King Lear (1987), which he made with Norman Mailer, also caused controversy. It was a bizarre postmodern take on the Shakespeare play, with theatre director Peter Sellars as a descendant of Shakespeare, Burgess Meredith as the mobster Don Learo, Jean-Luc Godard as the professor, and Woody Allen as a character called Mr. Alien. Not entirely coincidentally, Mr. Alien was also nicknamed Jean-Luc Godard. From 1989 to 1998, he made the series Histoire(s) du Cinéma, about the twentieth century and the history of film. His most recent film is the avantgarde essay Le Livre d'image/The Image Book (2018).

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

See videos of Darla and other "Absolutely Smashing" characters here:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTv55UM19WdGqjz_6nZGU-4FpW...

An image of myself as one of the characters I played in my one-man showcase -- a production written, directed, produced, and edited entirely by me and in which I portray over 100 different characters in more than 50 scenes.

The showcase can be viewed in its entirety at:

lazrojas.com/showcase/

or

www.youtube.com/user/lazfilm2

After an interview about his new novel.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 43a.

American stage and film actor, director, and screenwriter Lon Chaney (1883-1930) is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. Between 1912 and 1930 he played more the 150 widely diverse roles. He is renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. ‘The Man of a Thousand Faces’ starred in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

Leonidas Frank ‘Lon’ Chaney was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1883. He was the son of deaf-mute parents, Frank and Emma Chaney, and he learned from childhood to communicate through pantomime, sign language, and facial expression. The stagestruck Chaney worked in a variety of backstage positions at the opera house in his hometown of Colorado Springs. Only 17, he was eventually allowed to appear on stage. In 1901, he went on the road as an actor in a play that he co-wrote with his brother, The Little Tycoon. After limited success, the company was sold. He began travelling with popular Vaudeville and theatre acts. On tour in Oklahoma City, he met Francis Cleveland ‘Cleva’ Creighton, (Cleva) who was auditioning for a part in the show as a singer. In 1905, Chaney, then 22, married 16-year-old Cleva and in 1906, their only child, a son, Creighton Tull Chaney (later known as film actor Lon Chaney, Jr.) was born. The Chaneys continued touring, settling in California in 1910. Their marriage became strained due to working conditions, money and jealousy. In 1913, Cleva went to the Majestic Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where Lon was managing the Kolb and Dill show and attempted suicide by swallowing mercuric chloride. The suicide attempt failed but it ruined her voice. The ensuing scandal and divorce forced Chaney out of the theatre and into the booming industry of silent films. Between 1912 and 1917, Chaney worked under contract for Universal Studios doing 100 bit or character parts. His skill with makeup gained him many parts in the highly competitive casting atmosphere. During this time, Chaney befriended the husband-wife director team of Joe De Grasse and Ida May Park, who gave him substantial roles in their pictures, and further encouraged him to play macabre characters. Chaney married one of his former colleagues in the Kolb and Dill company tour, chorus girl Hazel Hastings. Little is known of Hazel, except that her marriage to Chaney was solid. The couple gained custody of Chaney's 10-year-old son Creighton, who had resided in various homes and boarding schools since Chaney's divorce from Cleva. In 1917 Universal presented Chaney, Dorothy Phillips, and William Stowell as a team in the drama The Piper's Price (Joe De Grasse, 1917). In succeeding films, the men alternated playing lover, villain, or another man to the beautiful Phillips. They would occasionally be joined by Claire Du Brey nearly making the trio a quartet of recurring actors from film to film. So successful were the films starring this group that Universal produced fourteen films from 1917 to 1919 with Chaney, Stowell, and Phillips.

By 1917 Lon Chaney was a prominent actor in the Universal studio, but his salary did not reflect this status. When Chaney asked for a raise, studio executive William Sistrom replied, "You'll never be worth more than one hundred dollars a week." After leaving the studio, Chaney struggled for the first year as a free-lance character actor. He got his first big break when playing a substantial role in William S. Hart's Western, Riddle Gawne (William S. Hart, Lambert Hillyer, 1918). He received high praise for his performance in the role. In 1919, Chaney had another breakthrough performance in The Miracle Man (George Loane Tucker, 1919), as The Frog, a con man who pretends to be a cripple and is miraculously healed. The film displayed not only Chaney's acting ability but also his talent as a master of makeup. Critical praise and a gross of over $2 million put Chaney on the map as America's foremost character actor. He exhibited great adaptability with makeup in more conventional crime and adventure films, such as The Penalty (Wallace Worsley, 1920), in which he played an amputee gangster. As Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Wallace Worsley, 1923) and Erik, the tortured opera ghost in The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925), Chaney created two of the most grotesquely deformed characters in film history. William K. Everson William K. Everson in American Silent Film: "Only 'The Phantom of the Opera,' with its classic unmasking scene, a masterpiece of manipulative editing, really succeeded (and still does!) in actually scaring the audience - and that because the revelation had to be a purely visual one. Moreover, Lon Chaney's make-up was so grotesque as to equal, if not surpass, anything that the audience might have anticipated or imagined." However, the portrayals sought to elicit a degree of sympathy and pathos among viewers not overwhelmingly terrified or repulsed by the monstrous disfigurements of these victims of fate. Chaney also appeared in ten films directed by Tod Browning, often portraying disguised and/or mutilated characters.

In 1924, Lon Chaney starred in Metro-Goldwyn’s He Who Gets Slapped, a circus melodrama voted one of the best films of the year. The success of this film led to a series of contracts with MGM Studios for the next five years. In these final five years of his film career, Chaney gave some of his most memorable performances. His portrayal of a tough-as-nails marine drill instructor opposite William Haines in Tell It to the Marines (George W. Hill, 1926), one of his favourite films, earned him the affection of the Marine Corps, who made him their first honorary member of the motion picture industry. Memorable is also his carnival knife-thrower Alonzo the Armless in The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927) opposite Joan Crawford. In 1927, Chaney also co-starred with Conrad Nagel, Marceline Day, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran in the horror film, London After Midnight (Tod Browning, 1927) considered one of the most legendary and sought-after lost films. His final film role was a sound remake of his silent classic The Unholy Three (Jack Conway, 1930). He played Echo, a crook ventriloquist and used five different voices (the ventriloquist, the old woman, a parrot, the dummy and the girl) in the film, thus proving he could make the transition from silent films to the talkies. Chaney signed a sworn statement declaring that the five voices in the film were his own. During the filming of Thunder in the winter of 1929, Chaney developed pneumonia. In late 1929 the heavy smoker was diagnosed with bronchial lung cancer. This was exacerbated when artificial snow, made out of cornflakes, lodged in his throat during filming and quickly created a serious infection. Despite aggressive treatment, his condition gradually worsened, and seven weeks after the release of the remake of The Unholy Three (1930), he died of a throat haemorrhage in Los Angeles, California. In his last days, his illness had rendered him unable to speak, forcing him to rely on the pantomimic gestures of his youth in order to communicate with his friends and loved ones. Chaney and his second wife Hazel had led a discreet private life distant from the Hollywood social scene. Chaney did minimal promotional work for his films and for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, purposefully fostering a mysterious image, and he reportedly intentionally avoided the social scene in Hollywood. At the end of the 1950s, Chaney was rediscovered. He was portrayed by James Cagney in the biopic titled Man of a Thousand Faces (Joseph Pevney, 1957). In 1958, Chaney fan Forrest J. Ackerman started and edited the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, which published many photographs and articles about Chaney. Ackerman is also present in Kevin Brownlow’s documentary Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (2000).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Lon Chaney.com, Silents are Golden, Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960's British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Watch videos of Darla here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt3FiYKXI9s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqduiIZDjfI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdm5_6AFJ0o

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWEjfTX2gIM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrOXzMAiQYo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUVTZDYFpW8

(born November 6, 1946) is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget (1965–66) and Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun (1967–70); in the 1970s, for Sybil (1976), Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Norma Rae (1979); in the 1980s, for Absence of Malice (1981), Places in the Heart (1984) and Steel Magnolias (1989); in the 1990s, for Not Without My Daughter (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Forrest Gump (1994) and Eye for an Eye (1996); in the 2000s, on the TV shows ER and Brothers & Sisters (2006–11); and in the 2010s in The Amazing Spider-Man and Lincoln.

An image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Laura Turner, screenwriter and playwright. Fury Theatre.

Mock publicity photo with an image of myself as Tatiana Veranova, a 1960s Ukrainian ballerina, cellist, and KGB spy from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 519.

Blonde French actress and singer Catherine Spaak (1945) worked in France, Spain, Germany and Hollywood, but she spent most of her career in Italy. There she started as a Lolita-like vamp in films of the early 1960s, made records and became a teenage star. She played in several classic Italian comedies and was a popular TV host. Spaak is still active on TV, writes books and has now appeared in some 100 films.

Catherine Spaak was born at Boulogne-Billancourt, France in 1945. Her father was the Belgian critic and screenwriter Charles Spaak, her mother the actress Claudie Clèves and her sister is actress-photographer Agnès Spaak. As a teenager, Catherine started her career with small roles in French films like the short L’hiver/The winter (Jacques Gautier, 1959) and the thriller Le Trou/Nightwatch (Jacques Becker, 1960). When she moved to Italy later that year, her father introduced her to film director Alberto Lattuada, who cast her in his film I dolci inganni/Sweet Deceptions (Alberto Lattuada, 1960) . That coming of age film made her a star in Italy. She played a young Roman girl in love, who spends the day observing other lovers' behaviors and considering whether she is ready to jump. J.C. Mohsen at IMDb: “This film's unpredictability is refreshing. Whether written or filmed, coming-of-age stories often fail to surprise or intrigue the audience. In I Dolci Inganni, most characters seem at first to be crazily entertaining walking clichés, but they later astonish the audience by revealing their depth and their inner struggles.” From age 15 to 18, Spaak was the lead actress in a dozen films, including La voglia matta/Crazy Desire (Luciano Salce, 1961) opposite Ugo Tognazzi, the classic comedy Il sorpasso/The Easy Life (Dino Risi, 1962) with Vittorio Gassman, La parmigiana/The Girl from Parma (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1963) with Nino Manfredi, and the Alberto Moravia adaptation La noia/The Empty Canvas (Damiano Damiani, 1963) with Horst Buchholz and Bette Davis. For her performance in La noia she was awarded in 1964 the David di Donatello, the Italian Oscar. Spaak often played the Lolita-type who seduced men, and the Italian scandal press wrote about herself in that way. In their articles, journalists always included that she was the niece of the Belgian prime minister, Paul-Henri Spaak.

Catherine Spaak’s screen success, combined with her love of singing and guitar playing, led to an offer of the Ricordi label in 1962. She recorded covers of Françoise Hardy originals and songs in Hardy’s style. Ready steady girls!, the site on Europe’s fab female singers of the 1960s in their bio: “Perdono – written by Gino Paoli (who had worked with stars such as Mina) and arranged by Ennio Morricone – was issued as her debut single and swiftly made the Italian top 20. Vocally, Catherine drew comparisons with France’s newest star, Françoise Hardy, so Ricordi opted to have their young signing record a couple of Hardy songs for the Italian market. Issued in 1963, the bilingual Tous les garçons et les filles (Quelli della mia età) – backed with J’ai jeté mon coeur (Ho scherzato con il cuore) – gave Hardy’s original a run for its money, reaching number seven in September 1963 and confirming Catherine as a new star.” In 1964, she returned to France to appear in La Ronde (Roger Vadim, 1964) and the war drama Week-end à Zuydcoote/Weekend at Dunkirk (Henri Verneuil, 1964) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. Back in Italy she played in some more highlights of the commedia all'italiana such as L'armata Brancaleone/Brancaleone's Army (Mario Monicelli, 1965) featuring Vittorio Gassman, and Made in Italy (Nanni Loy, 1965). Other notable appearances include L'uomo dei cinque palloni/Break up (Marco Ferreri, 1965) starring Marcello Mastroianni, and La matriarca/The Libertine (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1968) with Jean-Louis Trintignant. In 1967 she went to Hollywood to play Rod Taylor’s love interest in Hotel (Richard Quine, 1967), based on the novel by Arthur Hailey. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “Once she came to Hollywood, however, Spaak was packaged and promoted as just another foreign starlet, interchangeable with Claudia Cardinale, Camilla Sparv, Elke Sommer and the rest of the batch.” The result was not a success and soon she was back in Italy. Two years later she did a cameo in another Hollywood production, If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (Mel Stuart, 1969).

Seeking a new direction, Catherine Spaak joined fellow singer Johnny Dorelli in the operetta La vedova allegra in 1968. The pair went on to enjoy a lasting relationship, both personally and professionally. They enjoyed success as a duo with Song sung blue (1972) and Una serata insieme a te (1973). During the early 1970s, she continued to appear in many Italian films, but they became less interesting. She starred with James Franciscus in the giallo Il gatto a nove code/The Cat o' Nine Tails (Dario Argento, 1971). In France she made the crime film Un meurtre est un meurtre/A Murder Is a Murder... Is a Murder (Étienne Périer, 1972) with Jean-Claude Brialy. In the American-Italian Western Take a Hard Ride (Antonio Margheriti, 1975), she co-starred with Jim Brown and Lee van Cleef. From then on, her film appearances became more incidental. In 1978, she had success on stage in the musical Cyrano, and would continue to play on stage. She hosted several Italian TV shows such as Forum (1985-1988) and Harem (1989-2002), and wrote articles for newspaper Il corriere della sera and Italian magazines. She also published six books in Italian, such as 26 Donne/26 women (1984), Un cuore perso/A lost heart (1996), Lui/He (2006) and L’amore blu/Blue Love (2011). Her later films include the sex comedy anthology Sunday Lovers (Bryan Forbes, Edouard Molinaro, Dino Risi, Gene Wilder, 1980) as Ugo Tognazzi’s psychoanalyst, Scandalo Segreto/Secret Scandal (Monica Vitti, 1989) and Tandem (Lucio Pellegrini, 2000) starring the comic duo Luca & Paolo. More recently she was seen in the film Alice (Oreste Crisostomi, 2009), the BBC mini-series Zen (John Alexander, Jon Jones, Christopher Menaul, 2011) starring Rufus Sewell as detective Aurelio Zen and Spaak as his Mamma, and the film I più' grandi di tutti/The greatest of all (Carlo Virzì, 2012). Catherine Spaak was married to actor and producer Fabrizio Capucci (1963-1971) and Italian singer-actor Johnny Dorelli (1972-1979). Her present husband is actor Orso Maria Guerrini. With Capucci, she has a daughter, stage actress Sabrina Capucci (1963), and with Dorelli a son, Gabriele Dorelli.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), CatherineSpaak.eu, Ready Steady Go!, Wikipedia (Italian, French, German and English) and IMDb.

And please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

English postcard, no. FA 220. Sent by mail in 1991. Sylvester Stallone in Cobra (George P. Cosmatos, 1986).

Sylvester Stallone (1946) is an athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director. Film fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 30 years, making "Sly" one of Hollywood's biggest-ever box office draws.

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone was born in 1946, in New York's gritty Hell's Kitchen. His parents were Jackie Stallone (née Labofish), an astrologer, and Frank Stallone, an Italian immigrant who worked as a beautician, and hairdresser. After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother and her new husband, a pizza manufacturer, Anthony 'Tony' Filiti, to Philadelphia. His siblings are actor Frank Stallone, half-sister Toni D'Alto, and Dante Stallone. The young Stallone attended the American College of Switzerland and the University of Miami, eventually obtaining a B.A. degree. He was 23 years old when he got his first starring role in the softcore sex film The Party at Kitty and Stud's (Morton M. Lewis, 1970) in which he played the role of Stud 'The Italian Stallion'. He was paid $200 to play the sex-craved gigolo and appeared nude. In 1976, the film was re-released as The Italian Stallion after Sly's success with Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976). In between, he first struggled in small parts in films such as the thriller Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971) starring Jane Fonda, and the comedy Bananas (Woody Allen, 1971). He got a crucial career break alongside fellow young actors Henry Winkler and Perry King, sharing lead billing in the effectively written teen gang film The Lords of Flatbush (Martin Davidson, Stephen Verona, 1974). He also wrote the screenplay for the modestly successful film. Further film and television roles followed, most of them in uninspiring productions except for the opportunity to play a megalomaniac, bloodthirsty race driver named "Machine Gun Joe Viterbo" opposite David Carradine in the Roger Corman-produced Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel, 1975). However, Stallone was also keen to be recognised as a screenwriter, not just an actor, and, inspired by the 1975 Muhammad Ali-Chuck Wepner fight in Cleveland, Stallone wrote a film script about a nobody fighter given the "million to one opportunity" to challenge for the heavyweight title. Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976) became the stuff of cinematic legends, scoring ten Academy Award nominations, winning the Best Picture Award of 1976, and triggering one of the most financially successful film series in history. Whilst full credit is wholly deserved by Stallone, he was duly supported by tremendous acting from fellow cast members Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, and Burt Young, and director John G. Avildsen gave the film an emotive, earthy appeal from start to finish. Stallone had truly arrived on his terms and offers poured in from various studios eager to secure Hollywood's hottest new star.

Sylvester Stallone followed Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976) with F.I.S.T (Norman Jewison, 1978), loosely based on the life of Teamsters boss "Jimmy Hoffa", and Paradise Alley (Sylvester Stallone, 1978) before pulling on the boxing gloves again to resurrect Rocky Balboa in the sequel Rocky II (Sylvester Stallone, 1979). The second outing for the "Italian Stallion" wasn't as powerful or successful as the first "Rocky", however, it still produced a strong box office. Subsequent films Nighthawks (Bruce Malmuth, 1981) with Rutger Hauer, and Escape to Victory (John Huston, 1981) with Michael Caine and Pelé failed to ignite with audiences, so Stallone was once again lured back to familiar territory with Rocky III (Sylvester Stallone, 1982) and a fearsome opponent in "Clubber Lang" played by muscular ex-bodyguard, Mr. T. The third "Rocky" installment far outperformed the first sequel in box office takings, but Stallone retired his prizefighter for a couple of years as another series was about to commence for the busy actor. The character of Green Beret "John Rambo" was the creation of Canadian-born writer David Morrell, and his novel was adapted to the screen with Stallone in the lead role in First Blood (Ted Kotcheff, 1982), also starring Richard Crenna and Brian Dennehy. The film was a surprise hit that polarised audiences because of its commentary about the Vietnam war, which was still relatively fresh in the American public's psyche. Political viewpoints aside, the film was a worldwide smash, and a sequel soon followed with Rambo: First Blood Part II (George P. Cosmatos, 1985), which drew even stronger criticism from several quarters owing to the film's plotline about American MIAs allegedly being held in Vietnam. But they say there is no such thing as bad publicity, and "John Rambo's" second adventure was a major money-spinner for Stallone and cemented him as one of the top male stars of the 1980s. In between, he did his own singing in Did all of his own singing in Rhinestone (Bob Clark, 1984) with Dolly Parton. Riding a wave of amazing popularity, Stallone called on old sparring partner Rocky Balboa to climb back into the ring to defend American pride against a Soviet threat in the form of a towering Russian boxer named "Ivan Drago" played by curt Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV (Sylvester Stallone, 1985). The fourth outing was somewhat controversial with "Rocky" fans, as violence levels seemed excessive compared to previous "Rocky" films, especially with the savage beating suffered by Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers, at the hands of the unstoppable "Siberian Express".

Sylvester Stallone continued forward with a slew of macho character-themed films that met with a mixed reception from his fans. Cobra (George P. Cosmatos, 1986) with his wife Brigitte Nielsen was a clumsy mess, Over the Top (Menahem Golan, 1987) was equally mediocre, Rambo III (Peter MacDonald, 1988) saw Rambo take on the Russians in Afghanistan, and cop buddy film Tango & Cash (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 1989) just did not quite hit the mark, although it did feature a top-notch cast and there was chemistry between Stallone and co-star Kurt Russell. Philadelphia's favourite mythical boxer moved out of the shadows for his fifth screen outing in Rocky V (John G. Avildsen, 1990) tackling Tommy "Machine" Gunn played by real-life heavyweight fighter Tommy Morrison, the great-nephew of screen legend John Wayne. Sly quickly followed with the lukewarm comedy Oscar (John Landis, 1991) with Ornella Muti, the painfully unfunny Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (Roger Spottiswoode, 1992) with "Golden Girl" Estelle Getty, the futuristic action film Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla, 1993) with Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock, and the comic book-inspired Judge Dredd (Danny Cannon, 1995). Interestingly, Stallone then took a departure from the gung-ho steely characters he had been portraying to stack on a few extra pounds and tackle a more dramatically challenging role in the intriguing Cop Land (James Mangold, 1997), also starring Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, and Ray Liotta. It isn't a classic of the genre, but Cop Land (1997) certainly surprised many critics with Stallone's understated performance. He has been nominated a record 30 times for the Golden Raspberry Awards, usually in the "Worst Actor" category, and has won 10 times. The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation awarded him a special "Worst Actor of the Century" award in 2000.

Sylvester Stallone lent his voice to the animated adventure story Antz (Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson, 1998), reprised the role made famous by Michael Caine in a terrible remake of Get Carter (Stephen Kay, 2000), climbed back into a race car for Driven (Renny Harlin, 2001), and guest-starred as the "Toymaker" in the third chapter of the popular "Spy Kids" film series, Spy Kids 3: Game Over (Robert Rodriguez, 2003). in 2005 he published his book 'Sly Moves: My Proven Program to Lose Weight, Build Strength, Gain Will Power, and Live Your Dream'. Showing that age had not wearied his two most popular series, Sylvester Stallone brought back never-say-die boxer Rocky Balboa to star in Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006), and Vietnam veteran Rambo reappeared after a 20-year hiatus to once again right wrongs in the jungles of Thailand in Rambo (Sylvester Stallone, 2008). Another success was The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, 2010), abound a band of highly skilled mercenaries played by Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other 'dinosaurs' from the 1980's action film teamed up with each other. The action film opened at number one at the U.S. box office with a first weekend gross of $35 million. This makes Sylvester Stallone the only person in Hollywood history to have starred in films that have opened atop the box office charts over five consecutive decades. Soon followed the less successful sequels The Expendables 2 (Simon West, 2012) and The Expendables 3 (Patrick Hughes, 2014). In between, he also appeared with Schwarzenegger in Escape Plan (Mikael Håfström, 2013). Stallone got rave reviews, his first Golden Globe, and an Oscar nomination for his role in the sports film Creed (Ryan Coogler, 2015) opposite Michael B. Jordan. Once again he played Rocky Balboa who serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. In 2017, Stallone appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn, 2017) as Stakar Ogord / Starhawk, the leader of a Ravagers faction. Then followed Creed II (Steven Caple Jr., 2018) and Rambo: Last Blood (Adrian Grunberg, 2019). The latter film grossed $91 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million. Sylvester Stallone married three times. His first wife was Sasha Czack (1974-1985) with whom he has two children: Sage and Seargeoh Stallone. Sage acted with Sylvester in Rocky V (1990) and Daylight (1996) and was found dead in 2012 in Los Angeles. From 1985 till 1987, Sly was married to Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen. Since 1997, he is married to Jennifer Flavin, with whom he has three children: Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose, and Scarlet Rose Stallone. Firehouse at IMDb: "Love him or loathe him, Sylvester Stallone has built an enviable and highly respected career in Hollywood, plus, he has considerably influenced modern popular culture through several of his iconic film characters."

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

An image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Italian postcard by Edizione diesse.

Blonde French actress and singer Catherine Spaak (1945) worked in France, Spain, Germany and Hollywood, but she spent most of her career in Italy. There she started as a Lolita-like vamp in films of the early 1960s, made records and became a teenage star. She played in several classic Italian comedies and was a popular TV host. Spaak is still active on TV, writes books and has now appeared in some 100 films.

Catherine Spaak was born at Boulogne-Billancourt, France in 1945. Her father was the Belgian critic and screenwriter Charles Spaak, her mother the actress Claudie Clèves and her sister is actress-photographer Agnès Spaak. As a teenager, Catherine started her career with small roles in French films like the short L’hiver/The winter (Jacques Gautier, 1959) and the thriller Le Trou/Nightwatch (Jacques Becker, 1960). When she moved to Italy later that year, her father introduced her to film director Alberto Lattuada, who cast her in his film I dolci inganni/Sweet Deceptions (Alberto Lattuada, 1960) . That coming of age film made her a star in Italy. She played a young Roman girl in love, who spends the day observing other lovers' behaviors and considering whether she is ready to jump. J.C. Mohsen at IMDb: “This film's unpredictability is refreshing. Whether written or filmed, coming-of-age stories often fail to surprise or intrigue the audience. In I Dolci Inganni, most characters seem at first to be crazily entertaining walking clichés, but they later astonish the audience by revealing their depth and their inner struggles.” From age 15 to 18, Spaak was the lead actress in a dozen films, including La voglia matta/Crazy Desire (Luciano Salce, 1961) opposite Ugo Tognazzi, the classic comedy Il sorpasso/The Easy Life (Dino Risi, 1962) with Vittorio Gassman, La parmigiana/The Girl from Parma (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1963) with Nino Manfredi, and the Alberto Moravia adaptation La noia/The Empty Canvas (Damiano Damiani, 1963) with Horst Buchholz and Bette Davis. For her performance in La noia she was awarded in 1964 the David di Donatello, the Italian Oscar. Spaak often played the Lolita-type who seduced men, and the Italian scandal press wrote about herself in that way. In their articles, journalists always included that she was the niece of the Belgian prime minister, Paul-Henri Spaak.

Catherine Spaak’s screen success, combined with her love of singing and guitar playing, led to an offer of the Ricordi label in 1962. She recorded covers of Françoise Hardy originals and songs in Hardy’s style. Ready steady girls!, the site on Europe’s fab female singers of the 1960s in their bio: “Perdono – written by Gino Paoli (who had worked with stars such as Mina) and arranged by Ennio Morricone – was issued as her debut single and swiftly made the Italian top 20. Vocally, Catherine drew comparisons with France’s newest star, Françoise Hardy, so Ricordi opted to have their young signing record a couple of Hardy songs for the Italian market. Issued in 1963, the bilingual Tous les garçons et les filles (Quelli della mia età) – backed with J’ai jeté mon coeur (Ho scherzato con il cuore) – gave Hardy’s original a run for its money, reaching number seven in September 1963 and confirming Catherine as a new star.” In 1964, she returned to France to appear in La Ronde (Roger Vadim, 1964) and the war drama Week-end à Zuydcoote/Weekend at Dunkirk (Henri Verneuil, 1964) starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. Back in Italy she played in some more highlights of the commedia all'italiana such as L'armata Brancaleone/Brancaleone's Army (Mario Monicelli, 1965) featuring Vittorio Gassman, and Made in Italy (Nanni Loy, 1965). Other notable appearances include L'uomo dei cinque palloni/Break up (Marco Ferreri, 1965) starring Marcello Mastroianni, and La matriarca/The Libertine (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1968) with Jean-Louis Trintignant. In 1967 she went to Hollywood to play Rod Taylor’s love interest in Hotel (Richard Quine, 1967), based on the novel by Arthur Hailey. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “Once she came to Hollywood, however, Spaak was packaged and promoted as just another foreign starlet, interchangeable with Claudia Cardinale, Camilla Sparv, Elke Sommer and the rest of the batch.” The result was not a success and soon she was back in Italy. Two years later she did a cameo in another Hollywood production, If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (Mel Stuart, 1969).

Seeking a new direction, Catherine Spaak joined fellow singer Johnny Dorelli in the operetta La vedova allegra in 1968. The pair went on to enjoy a lasting relationship, both personally and professionally. They enjoyed success as a duo with Song sung blue (1972) and Una serata insieme a te (1973). During the early 1970s, she continued to appear in many Italian films, but they became less interesting. She starred with James Franciscus in the giallo Il gatto a nove code/The Cat o' Nine Tails (Dario Argento, 1971). In France she made the crime film Un meurtre est un meurtre/A Murder Is a Murder... Is a Murder (Étienne Périer, 1972) with Jean-Claude Brialy. In the American-Italian Western Take a Hard Ride (Antonio Margheriti, 1975), she co-starred with Jim Brown and Lee van Cleef. From then on, her film appearances became more incidental. In 1978, she had success on stage in the musical Cyrano, and would continue to play on stage. She hosted several Italian TV shows such as Forum (1985-1988) and Harem (1989-2002), and wrote articles for newspaper Il corriere della sera and Italian magazines. She also published six books in Italian, such as 26 Donne/26 women (1984), Un cuore perso/A lost heart (1996), Lui/He (2006) and L’amore blu/Blue Love (2011). Her later films include the sex comedy anthology Sunday Lovers (Bryan Forbes, Edouard Molinaro, Dino Risi, Gene Wilder, 1980) as Ugo Tognazzi’s psychoanalyst, Scandalo Segreto/Secret Scandal (Monica Vitti, 1989) and Tandem (Lucio Pellegrini, 2000) starring the comic duo Luca & Paolo. More recently she was seen in the film Alice (Oreste Crisostomi, 2009), the BBC mini-series Zen (John Alexander, Jon Jones, Christopher Menaul, 2011) starring Rufus Sewell as detective Aurelio Zen and Spaak as his Mamma, and the film I più' grandi di tutti/The greatest of all (Carlo Virzì, 2012). Catherine Spaak was married to actor and producer Fabrizio Capucci (1963-1971) and Italian singer-actor Johnny Dorelli (1972-1979). Her present husband is actor Orso Maria Guerrini. With Capucci, she has a daughter, stage actress Sabrina Capucci (1963), and with Dorelli a son, Gabriele Dorelli.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), CatherineSpaak.eu, Ready Steady Go!, Wikipedia (Italian, French, German and English) and IMDb.

And please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

British postcard by Santoro Graphics, London, no. C201. Photo: Twentieth Century Fox. Sylvester Stallone in Rhinestone (Bob Clark, 1984).

Sylvester Stallone (1946) is an athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director. Film fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 30 years, making "Sly" one of Hollywood's biggest-ever box office draws.

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone was born in 1946, in New York's gritty Hell's Kitchen. His parents were Jackie Stallone (née Labofish), an astrologer, and Frank Stallone, an Italian emigrant who worked as a beautician, and hairdresser. After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother and her new husband, a pizza manufacturer, Anthony 'Tony' Filiti, to Philadelphia. His siblings are actor Frank Stallone, half-sister Toni D'Alto, and Dante Stallone. The young Stallone attended the American College of Switzerland and the University of Miami, eventually obtaining a B.A. degree. He was 23 years old when he got his first starring role in the softcore sex film The Party at Kitty and Stud's (Morton M. Lewis, 1970) in which he played the role of Stud 'The Italian Stallon'. He was paid $200 to play the sex-craved gigolo and appeared nude. In 1976, the film was re-released as The Italian Stallion after Sly's success with Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976). In between, he first struggled in small parts in films such as the thriller Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971) starring Jane Fonda, and the comedy Bananas (Woody Allen, 1971). He got a crucial career break alongside fellow young actors Henry Winkler and Perry King, sharing lead billing in the effectively written teen gang film The Lords of Flatbush (Martin Davidson, Stephen Verona, 1974). He also wrote the screenplay for the modestly successful film. Further film and television roles followed, most of them in uninspiring productions except for the opportunity to play a megalomaniac, bloodthirsty race driver named "Machine Gun Joe Viterbo" opposite David Carradine in the Roger Corman-produced Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel, 1975). However, Stallone was also keen to be recognised as a screenwriter, not just an actor, and, inspired by the 1975 Muhammad Ali-Chuck Wepner fight in Cleveland, Stallone wrote a film script about a nobody fighter given the "million to one opportunity" to challenge for the heavyweight title. Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976) became the stuff of cinematic legends, scoring ten Academy Award nominations, winning the Best Picture Award of 1976, and triggering one of the most financially successful film series in history. Whilst full credit is wholly deserved by Stallone, he was duly supported by tremendous acting from fellow cast members Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, and Burt Young, and director John G. Avildsen gave the film an emotive, earthy appeal from start to finish. Stallone had truly arrived on his terms and offers poured in from various studios eager to secure Hollywood's hottest new star.

Sylvester Stallone followed Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976) with F.I.S.T (Norman Jewison, 1978), loosely based on the life of Teamsters boss "Jimmy Hoffa", and Paradise Alley (Sylvester Stallone, 1978) before pulling on the boxing gloves again to resurrect Rocky Balboa in the sequel Rocky II (Sylvester Stallone, 1979). The second outing for the "Italian Stallion" wasn't as powerful or successful as the first "Rocky", however, it still produced a strong box office. Subsequent films Nighthawks (Bruce Malmuth, 1981) with Rutger Hauer, and Escape to Victory (John Huston, 1981) with Michael Caine and Pelé failed to ignite with audiences, so Stallone was once again lured back to familiar territory with Rocky III (Sylvester Stallone, 1982) and a fearsome opponent in "Clubber Lang" played by muscular ex-bodyguard, Mr. T. The third "Rocky" installment far outperformed the first sequel in box office takings, but Stallone retired his prizefighter for a couple of years as another series was about to commence for the busy actor. The character of Green Beret "John Rambo" was the creation of Canadian-born writer David Morrell, and his novel was adapted to the screen with Stallone in the lead role in First Blood (Ted Kotcheff, 1982), also starring Richard Crenna and Brian Dennehy. The film was a surprise hit that polarised audiences because of its commentary about the Vietnam war, which was still relatively fresh in the American public's psyche. Political viewpoints aside, the film was a worldwide smash, and a sequel soon followed with Rambo: First Blood Part II (George P. Cosmatos, 1985), which drew even stronger criticism from several quarters owing to the film's plotline about American MIAs allegedly being held in Vietnam. But they say there is no such thing as bad publicity, and "John Rambo's" second adventure was a major money-spinner for Stallone and cemented him as one of the top male stars of the 1980s. In between, he did his own singing in Did all of his own singing in Rhinestone (Bob Clark, 1984) with Dolly Parton. Riding a wave of amazing popularity, Stallone called on old sparring partner Rocky Balboa to climb back into the ring to defend American pride against a Soviet threat in the form of a towering Russian boxer named "Ivan Drago" played by curt Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV (Sylvester Stallone, 1985). The fourth outing was somewhat controversial with "Rocky" fans, as violence levels seemed excessive compared to previous "Rocky" films, especially with the savage beating suffered by Apollo Creed, played by Carl Weathers, at the hands of the unstoppable "Siberian Express".

Sylvester Stallone continued forward with a slew of macho character-themed films that met with a mixed reception from his fans. Cobra (George P. Cosmatos, 1986) with his wife Brigitte Nielsen was a clumsy mess, Over the Top (Menahem Golan, 1987) was equally mediocre, Rambo III (Peter MacDonald, 1988) saw Rambo take on the Russians in Afghanistan, and cop buddy film Tango & Cash (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 1989) just did not quite hit the mark, although it did feature a top-notch cast and there was chemistry between Stallone and co-star Kurt Russell. Philadelphia's favourite mythical boxer moved out of the shadows for his fifth screen outing in Rocky V (John G. Avildsen, 1990) tackling Tommy "Machine" Gunn played by real-life heavyweight fighter Tommy Morrison, the great-nephew of screen legend John Wayne. Sly quickly followed with the lukewarm comedy Oscar (John Landis, 1991) with Ornella Muti, the painfully unfunny Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (Roger Spottiswoode, 1992) with "Golden Girl" Estelle Getty, the futuristic action film Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla, 1993) with Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock, and the comic book-inspired Judge Dredd (Danny Cannon, 1995). Interestingly, Stallone then took a departure from the gung-ho steely characters he had been portraying to stack on a few extra pounds and tackle a more dramatically challenging role in the intriguing Cop Land (James Mangold, 1997), also starring Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, and Ray Liotta. It isn't a classic of the genre, but Cop Land (1997) certainly surprised many critics with Stallone's understated performance. He has been nominated a record 30 times for the Golden Raspberry Awards, usually in the "Worst Actor" category, and has won 10 times. The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation awarded him a special "Worst Actor of the Century" award in 2000.

Sylvester Stallone lent his voice to the animated adventure story Antz (Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson, 1998), reprised the role made famous by Michael Caine in a terrible remake of Get Carter (Stephen Kay, 2000), climbed back into a race car for Driven (Renny Harlin, 2001), and guest-starred as the "Toymaker" in the third chapter of the popular "Spy Kids" film series, Spy Kids 3: Game Over (Robert Rodriguez, 2003). in 2005 he published his book 'Sly Moves: My Proven Program to Lose Weight, Build Strength, Gain Will Power, and Live Your Dream'. Showing that age had not wearied his two most popular series, Sylvester Stallone brought back never-say-die boxer Rocky Balboa to star in Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006), and Vietnam veteran Rambo reappeared after a 20-year hiatus to once again right wrongs in the jungles of Thailand in Rambo (Sylvester Stallone, 2008). Another success was The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, 2010), abound a band of highly skilled mercenaries played by Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other 'dinosaurs' from the 1980's action film teamed up with each other. The action film opened at number one at the U.S. box office with a first weekend gross of $35 million. This makes Sylvester Stallone the only person in Hollywood history to have starred in films that have opened atop the box office charts over five consecutive decades. Soon followed the less successful sequels The Expendables 2 (Simon West, 2012) and The Expendables 3 (Patrick Hughes, 2014). In between, he also appeared with Schwarzenegger in Escape Plan (Mikael Håfström, 2013). Stallone got rave reviews, his first Golden Globe, and an Oscar nomination for his role in the sports film Creed (Ryan Coogler, 2015) opposite Michael B. Jordan. Once again he played Rocky Balboa who serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. In 2017, Stallone appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn, 2017) as Stakar Ogord / Starhawk, the leader of a Ravagers faction. Then followed Creed II (Steven Caple Jr., 2018) and Rambo: Last Blood (Adrian Grunberg, 2019). The latter film grossed $91 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million. Sylvester Stallone married three times. His first wife was Sasha Czack (1974-1985) with whom he has two children: Sage and Seargeoh Stallone. Sage acted with Sylvester in Rocky V (1990) and Daylight (1996) and was found dead in 2012 in Los Angeles. From 1985 till 1987, Sly was married to Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen. Since 1997, he is married to Jennifer Flavin, with whom he has three children: Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose, and Scarlet Rose Stallone. Firehouse at IMDb: "Love him or loathe him, Sylvester Stallone has built an enviable and highly respected career in Hollywood, plus, he has considerably influenced modern popular culture through several of his iconic film characters."

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Mock advertisement with an image of myself as Chantal Thierry, a 1960s French secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

Belgian postcard by N.V. Universum S.A., Antwerpen / Anvers. Photo: Paramount.

Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) was an American actor, screenwriter, producer and songwriter. After a rich Broadway career in the late 1910s and 1920s, he became a popular Hollywood star in pleasant and fast-paced musical film comedies in the early 1930s.

Eddie Cantor was born Edward Israel Iskowitz in 1892 in New York City, New York, USA. He was the son of amateur violinist Mechel Iskowitz (also Michael) and his wife Meta Kantrowitz Iskowitz (also Maite), a young Jewish couple from Russia. Both his parents died when he was still very young, and he was adopted and raised by his maternal grandmother, Esther Lazarowitz Kantrowitz. She called him Izzy and Itchik, both diminutives for Isidor. She supported herself and her grandson as a door-to-door peddler. The boy was educated in public schools. "Kantrowitz" was the name mistakenly assigned to the boy instead of his actual name, Iskowitz, by a public school registrar. It was shortened to Cantor. Eddie was the nickname given to him by his girlfriend, Ida Tobias, whom he later married. After winning $5 at a Bowery Theatre Amateur Night, the teenage Cantor knew where his destiny lay. One of his earliest paying jobs was a double position as a waiter and performer. He sang for tips at Carey Walsh's Coney Island saloon, where a young Jimmy Durante accompanied him on piano. He made his first public appearance in Vaudeville in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall, then became a member of the Gus Edwards Gang, later touring Vaudeville with Al Lee as the team Cantor & Lee. His grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz, died on 29 January 1917, two days before he signed a long-term contract with Broadway's top producer Florenz Ziegfeld, to appear in his "Follies". Eddie starred in the Ziegfeld rooftop post-show Midnight Frolic (1917) and in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1927. He also made Broadway stage appearances in 'Broadway Brevities of 1920', 'Make It Snappy' (1922), 'Kid Boots' (1923), 'Whoopee' (1928) and 'Banjo Eyes' (1941). For several years, Cantor starred in an act with pioneering comedian Bert Williams, both in blackface. Cantor played Williams' son. Other co-stars with Cantor during his time in the Follies included Will Rogers, Marilyn Miller, Fanny Brice and W.C. Fields. The successful Broadway series of 'Banjo eyes' in 1941 was cut short when Cantor suffered a major heart attack, the first of several that would dominate his later years.

Eddie Cantor also made numerous film appearances. He had previously appeared in a number of short films in the 1920s, performing his Follies songs and comedy routines, and in two silent feature films, Kid Boots (Frank Tuttle, 1926) with Clara Bow and Special Delivery (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1927). He was offered the lead role in The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927) after it was turned down by George Jessel, but Cantor also turned down the role so it went to Al Jolson. His best Hollywood years were spent under contract to Samuel Goldwyn, where Eddie turned out one big-budget musical comedy per year between 1930 and 1936. Eddie became a leading Hollywood star with the film version of Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930), shot in two-colour Technicolour. He continued to make films for the next two decades, including such hits as Palmy Days (A. Edward Sutherland, 1931), The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932), Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933) with Gloria Stuart, Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, Willy Pogany, 1934) co-starring Ann Sothern and Ethel Merman, Strike Me Pink (Norman Taurog, 1936) and Ali Baba Goes to Town (David Butler, 1937). His last leading role was in If You Knew Susie (Gordon Douglas, 1948) with Joan Davis. In the Warner Bros. biopic The Eddie Cantor Story (Alfred E. Green, 1953) he did a cameo appearance. He was the President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 1933-1935. Cantor turned to radio with The Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1931. Performing as a standup comedian, he used his vaudeville experience to outstanding effect and combined the expression of patriotism and personal values with humour; audiences responded enthusiastically. With changes of name, the show continued for 18 years on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) networks. He also served as host of The Eddie Cantor Variety Theater, a half-hour television variety show that was syndicated in 1955. Cantor also made many records. His theme song was 'One Hour With You'. His other popular-song compositions include 'Get a Little Fun Out of Life', 'It's Great to Be Alive' and 'The Old Stage Door'. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The offstage Cantor was not perfect, but most of the man's character flaws have been forgotten in the light of his inexhaustible work on behalf of dozens of charities, most prominently the March of Dimes. He also regularly put his career on the line through his union activities with Actors Equity, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio Artists, and flew in the face of bigotry and anti-Semitics through his work with the B'nai Brith and Jewish Relief." Eddie Cantor wrote the books 'Ziegfeld, the Great Glorifier' and 'As I Remember Them', and the autobiographies 'My Life Is In Your Hands' and 'Take My Life'. He received a Special Academy Award in 1956 for distinguished service to the film industry. Eddie Cantor died of a heart attack in 1964 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. His wife Ida had passed away two years earlier. They had five daughters, Marilyn Cantor Baker, Marjorie Cantor, Natalie Cantor, Edna Cantor McHugh and Janet Cantor Gari. Eddie Cantor is interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Britannica, Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

An image of myself as one of the characters I played in my one-man showcase -- a production written, directed, produced, and edited entirely by me and in which I portray over 100 different characters in more than 50 scenes.

The showcase can be viewed in its entirety at:

lazrojas.com/showcase/

or

www.youtube.com/user/lazfilm2

1966 First Day of Issue 175th Anniversary of Bill of Rights Miami Beach, FL (Art Craft)

"Art Craft" was a company that produced US first day covers, a type of philatelic cover, featuring hand-drawn artwork called cachets. The covers were created for philatelists (stamp collectors) and often featured specific stamps, such as those from the 1960s and 1970s.

U.S. (#1312) - 5¢ Bill of Rights

Issue Date: July 1, 1966

City: Miami Beach, FL

Quantity: 114,160,000

Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Printing Method: Giori press

Perforations: 11

Color: Carmine, dark blue, light blue

Commemorates the 175th anniversary of the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the constitution) that established freedom of religion and speech, freedom of the press, the right to a jury trial and other safeguards to human rights.

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1976 US Stamp First Day of Issue (#1700) 13c Adolph S Ochs publisher - New York, NY.

U.S. (#1700) - 1976 13¢ Adolph S. Ochs

Issue Date: September 18, 1976

City: New York, NY

Quantity: 158,332,800

Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Printing Method: Giori press

Perforations: 11

Color: Black and gray

Birth Of Adolph Ochs

Newspaper publisher Adolph Simon Ochs was born on March 12, 1858, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ochs was born into a Jewish family that had immigrated to America from Germany in 1846. His father taught in schools in the South during the Civil War, though he supported the Union. After the Civil War, Ochs' family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he attended school and delivered newspapers. He began working at the Knoxville Chronicle as an office boy when he was 11. His boss there, William Rule, would become a significant influence and mentor. In the coming years Ochs attended night school, worked as a grocery clerk and druggist's apprentice. He then returned to the newspaper to work as a printer's devil, performing various duties. When he was 19, Ochs borrowed $250 from his family to buy the failing Chattanooga Times. He made a profit in his first year as a publisher. The following year Ochs created The Tradesman commercial newspaper and later helped found the Southern Associated press. Then in 1896, Ochs learned that The New York Times was suffering and could be bought for a very low price. So he borrowed money to purchase it, established the New York Times Company and became the paper's majority stockholder. With the Times, Ochs set out to conduct a high standard newspaper, clean, dignified and trustworthy. Subscribers appreciated knowing the latest news without the sensationalism of other papers. Ochs also lowered the price from 3¢ an issue to 1¢. These efforts helped to save the paper that was nearly shut down. Readership increased tremendously from 9,000 when he bought it to 780,000 in the 1920s. Ochs also coined the motto, All the News That's Fit to Print, which remains on the paper today. Ochs eventually moved the paper to the Times Square and was noted for his frequent opposition to William Jennings Bryan's presidential campaign. Under Ochs' leadership the New York Times became one of the most respected and influential papers in the United States. Ochs also introduced different weekly and monthly supplements including The New York Times Book Review and Magazine, The Annalist (financial review), The Times Mid-Week Pictorial, Current History Magazine, and The New York Times Index. Ochs died while visiting Chattanooga on April 8, 1935.

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1. Neil Simon - Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three Tony Awards and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for four Academy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. He was awarded a Special Tony Award in 1975, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1991, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995 and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2006. Simon grew up in New York City during the Great Depression. His parents' financial difficulties affected their marriage, giving him a mostly unhappy and unstable childhood. He often took refuge in movie theaters, where he enjoyed watching early comedians like Charlie Chaplin. After graduating from high school and serving a few years in the Army Air Force Reserve, he began writing comedy scripts for radio programs and popular early television shows. Among the latter were Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows (where in 1950 he worked alongside other young writers including Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart and Selma Diamond), and The Phil Silvers Show, which ran from 1955 to 1959. His first produced play was Come Blow Your Horn (1961). It took him three years to complete and ran for 678 performances on Broadway. It was followed by two more successes, Barefoot in the Park (1963) and The Odd Couple (1965). He won a Tony Award for the latter. It made him a national celebrity and "the hottest new playwright on Broadway". From the 1960s to the 1980s, he wrote for stage and screen; some of his screenplays were based on his own works for the stage. His style ranged from farce to romantic comedy to more serious dramatic comedy. Overall, he garnered 17 Tony nominations and won three awards. In 1966, he had four successful productions running on Broadway at the same time and, in 1983, he became the only living playwright to have a New York theatre, the Neil Simon Theatre, named in his honor. LINK to his photo - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Simon#/media/File:Neil_Simon_-...

2. Victor Lasky - Victor Lasky (7 January 1918 – 22 February 1990) was a conservative columnist in the United States who wrote several best-selling books. He was syndicated by the North American Newspaper Alliance. On January 7, 1918, Victor Lasky was born in Liberty, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1940. Career - In 1942, Lasky joined the U.S. Army and served during World War II; during that time, he did correspondence work for the army's newspaper Stars and Stripes. After World War Two, Lasky joined the staff of the New York World-Telegram; while there, he assisted Frederick Woltman in writing a series of articles on Communist Party infiltration within the US, for which Woltman won a Pulitzer Prize for Reporting in 1947. Lasky first came to prominence with his 1950 book Seeds of Treason, co-authored with Ralph de Toledano, in which the authors argued against Alger Hiss and in favor of Whittaker Chambers, with regard to Chambers' accusations both he and Hiss had been spies for the Soviet Union. He was one of the first journalists to write a critical view of President John F. Kennedy. He expanded on this in his 1963 book JFK: The Man And The Myth, questioning Kennedy's wartime heroics on PT-109 and claimed he had a lackluster record as a congressman and senator. Lasky also wrote a similar negative book about Robert F. Kennedy. Lasky's most controversial book was It Didn't Start With Watergate published in 1977. The author argued that the scandal that drove Richard Nixon from office was little more than a media event. He believed that the press disliked Nixon and subjected him to unfair scrutiny no other president had ever experienced. Lasky also claimed that Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson had used wiretaps on political opponents. Lasky professed the greatest political "crime of the century" was not the Watergate scandal, but what he describes as the "theft" of the 1960 Presidential election. In 1979, Lasky wrote another controversial work called Jimmy Carter: The Man And The Myth, asserting that Carter was one of the most inept presidents of all time. Lasky's last work was Never Complain, Never Explain (1981), a biography of Henry Ford II.

3. Art Buchwald - Arthur Buchwald (October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007) was an American humorist best known for his column in The Washington Post. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspapers. His column focused on political satire and commentary. Buchwald had first started writing as a paid journalist in Paris after World War II, where he wrote a column on restaurants and nightclubs, "Paris After Dark", for the Paris Herald Tribune, which later became the International Herald Tribune. He was part of a large American expatriate community in those years. After his return to the United States in 1962, he continued to publish his columns and books for the rest of his life. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for Outstanding Commentary, and in 1991 was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, in addition to other awards. LINK to his photo - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Buchwald#/media/File:Art_Buchwa...

4. Arthur Herzog III (April 6, 1927 – May 26, 2010) was an American novelist, non-fiction writer, and journalist, well known for his works of science fiction and true crime books. He was the son of songwriter Arthur Herzog Jr. He was married to Leslie Mandel and they did not have any children. He wrote the 1977 novel Orca, which was adapted into the 1977 film of the same title, and his 1974 novel The Swarm was also adapted into a film in 1978. Herzog was also the author of non-fiction books: The Church Trap is a critique of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish church organization and institutions particularly in the US; 17 Days: The Katie Beers Story is about the kidnapping and child sexual abuse of Katie Beers.

British postcard in the A Real Photogravure Portrait series. Photo: United Artists. Eddie Cantor in Special Delivery (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1927).

Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) was an American actor, screenwriter, producer and songwriter. After a rich Broadway career in the late 1910s and 1920s, he became a popular Hollywood star in pleasant and fast-paced musical film comedies in the early 1930s.

Eddie Cantor was born Edward Israel Iskowitz in 1892 in New York City, New York, USA. He was the son of amateur violinist Mechel Iskowitz (also Michael) and his wife Meta Kantrowitz Iskowitz (also Maite), a young Jewish couple from Russia. Both his parents died when he was still very young, and he was adopted and raised by his maternal grandmother, Esther Lazarowitz Kantrowitz. She called him Izzy and Itchik, both diminutives for Isidor. She supported herself and her grandson as a door-to-door peddler. The boy was educated in public schools. "Kantrowitz" was the name mistakenly assigned to the boy instead of his actual name, Iskowitz, by a public school registrar. It was shortened to Cantor. Eddie was the nickname given to him by his girlfriend, Ida Tobias, whom he later married. After winning $5 at a Bowery Theatre Amateur Night, the teenage Cantor knew where his destiny lay. One of his earliest paying jobs was a double position as a waiter and performer. He sang for tips at Carey Walsh's Coney Island saloon, where a young Jimmy Durante accompanied him on piano. He made his first public appearance in Vaudeville in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall, then became a member of the Gus Edwards Gang, later touring Vaudeville with Al Lee as the team Cantor & Lee. His grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz, died on 29 January 1917, two days before he signed a long-term contract with Broadway's top producer Florenz Ziegfeld, to appear in his "Follies". Eddie starred in the Ziegfeld rooftop post-show Midnight Frolic (1917) and in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1927. He also made Broadway stage appearances in 'Broadway Brevities of 1920', 'Make It Snappy' (1922), 'Kid Boots' (1923), 'Whoopee' (1928) and 'Banjo Eyes' (1941). For several years, Cantor starred in an act with pioneering comedian Bert Williams, both in blackface. Cantor played Williams' son. Other co-stars with Cantor during his time in the Follies included Will Rogers, Marilyn Miller, Fanny Brice and W.C. Fields. The successful Broadway series of 'Banjo eyes' in 1941 was cut short when Cantor suffered a major heart attack, the first of several that would dominate his later years.

Eddie Cantor also made numerous film appearances. He had previously appeared in a number of short films in the 1920s, performing his Follies songs and comedy routines, and in two silent feature films, Kid Boots (Frank Tuttle, 1926) with Clara Bow and Special Delivery (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1927). He was offered the lead role in The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927) after it was turned down by George Jessel, but Cantor also turned down the role so it went to Al Jolson. His best Hollywood years were spent under contract to Samuel Goldwyn, where Eddie turned out one big-budget musical comedy per year between 1930 and 1936. Eddie became a leading Hollywood star with the film version of Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930), shot in two-colour Technicolour. He continued to make films for the next two decades, including such hits as Palmy Days (A. Edward Sutherland, 1931), The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932), Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933) with Gloria Stuart, Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, Willy Pogany, 1934) co-starring Ann Sothern and Ethel Merman, Strike Me Pink (Norman Taurog, 1936) and Ali Baba Goes to Town (David Butler, 1937). His last leading role was in If You Knew Susie (Gordon Douglas, 1948) with Joan Davis. In the Warner Bros. biopic The Eddie Cantor Story (Alfred E. Green, 1953) he did a cameo appearance. He was the President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 1933-1935. Cantor turned to radio with The Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1931. Performing as a standup comedian, he used his vaudeville experience to outstanding effect and combined the expression of patriotism and personal values with humour; audiences responded enthusiastically. With changes of name, the show continued for 18 years on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) networks. He also served as host of The Eddie Cantor Variety Theater, a half-hour television variety show that was syndicated in 1955. Cantor also made many records. His theme song was 'One Hour With You'. His other popular-song compositions include 'Get a Little Fun Out of Life', 'It's Great to Be Alive' and 'The Old Stage Door'. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The offstage Cantor was not perfect, but most of the man's character flaws have been forgotten in the light of his inexhaustible work on behalf of dozens of charities, most prominently the March of Dimes. He also regularly put his career on the line through his union activities with Actors Equity, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio Artists, and flew in the face of bigotry and anti-Semitics through his work with the B'nai Brith and Jewish Relief." Eddie Cantor wrote the books 'Ziegfeld, the Great Glorifier' and 'As I Remember Them', and the autobiographies 'My Life Is In Your Hands' and 'Take My Life'. He received a Special Academy Award in 1956 for distinguished service to the film industry. Eddie Cantor died of a heart attack in 1964 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. His wife Ida had passed away two years earlier. They had five daughters, Marilyn Cantor Baker, Marjorie Cantor, Natalie Cantor, Edna Cantor McHugh and Janet Cantor Gari. Eddie Cantor is interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Britannica, Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

A compilation of all the characters from my One-Man Showcase -- a production written, performed, directed, produced, and edited by me and in which I portray 105 different characters in 53 scenes.

The showcase can be seen on my YouTube channel:

www.youtube.com/user/lazfilm2

on my Facebook fan page:

www.facebook.com/LazRojas17/

or on its official site:

lazrojas.com/showcase/

Image of myself as Darla Chandler, a 1960s British pop singer/secret agent from my "Absolutely Smashing" franchise.

See videos of Darla and other "Absolutely Smashing" characters here:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTv55UM19WdGqjz_6nZGU-4FpW...

British postcard by Box Office, London, no. BO583.

George Clooney (1961) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer with more than thirty film awards and nominations to his name. Clooney gained wide recognition in his role as Dr. Doug Ross on the medical TV drama ER (1994-1999). In the cinema, he had his breakthrough roles in From Dusk till Dawn (1996), and the crime comedy Out of Sight (1998), in which he first worked with director Steven Soderbergh. In 2001 followed their biggest commercial success with the blockbuster Ocean's Eleven, the first of what became a trilogy. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Syriana (2005). He also won an Oscar for best picture for the thriller Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012) as a producer. He also received Oscar nominations for his roles in the conspiracy thriller Michael Clayton (2007) and The Descendants (2011), and a European Film Award for Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), which he also wrote and directed.

George Timothy Clooney was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1961. Clooney is the son of television personality Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Clooney and Nina Bruce Warren. He has an older sister, Ada Zeidler. His father is the brother of singer-actress Rosemary Clooney, who was married to film star José Ferrer, and George is the cousin of their son, actor Miguel Ferrer. At a young age, Clooney learned how to handle the camera. His father often took his family to public appearances and at the age of five George held the text boards for his father Nick, then a television presenter in Illinois, on a quiz show. It looked like Clooney would follow in his father's footsteps, but that changed when his uncle José Ferrer, husband of his aunt Rosemary, came to Kentucky to make a film about horse racing with his sons Miguel and Rafael. In it, Clooney also got a role. The film And They're Off was never released, but Clooney had found his calling. At Augusta High School, Clooney was a gifted baseball player, but during a tryout with the Cincinnati Reds, he proved not good enough to turn pro. Clooney attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981, where he studied radio journalism. After he broke off his studies, he held a few random jobs. His father, knowing how difficult it is to succeed as an actor, tried in vain to change his mind. In the summer of 1982, the determined Clooney spent harvesting tobacco in order to earn enough money to go to Hollywood. In California, he was allowed to live with his aunt Rosemary, although the latter did not wholeheartedly support his aspirations either. For several months, he was her chauffeur on her tour with singers like Martha Raye. After this, Clooney tried to get a job as an actor, but he was constantly rejected, which greatly affected his mood. Eventually, Rosemary felt compelled to ask her cousin to leave. Clooney moved in with a friend, rookie actor Tom Matthews. He did odd jobs on the sets of commercials and took acting classes at The Beverly Hills Playhouse. Under the guidance of Milton Katselas, he mastered the craft and, as a result of a school project, found an impresario. In the following years, he played several bigger and smaller roles, mostly in moderately received series, never-released films and B-movies like Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (John De Bello, 1988). He was not dissatisfied; he was doing what he loved most: acting and developing himself. Clooney's only longer-lasting role during this period was in the sitcom Roseanne. In it, he played Booker Brooks, Roseanne's supervisor and temporary boyfriend of her sister, in the first season (1989).

George Clooney's breakthrough came in 1994, through his role as Dr Douglas Ross in the hospital series ER (Emergency Room, 1994-1999). His popularity in this gave his film career a major boost. This series, which depicted everyday life in a Chicago teaching hospital in a realistic and dramatic manner and ran from 1994 to 1999, became a major international television success. Clooney rose to become one of the most famous television actors and was especially popular with female viewers. He portrayed the role in 109 episodes from 1994 to 1999 and made a guest appearance in the series in 2009. The Clooneys' sense of family was also expressed in guest appearances by Rosemary Clooney and his cousin Miguel Ferrer. Now film producers in Hollywood could no longer pass him over. From 1996, the actor established himself as a film star; he appeared in a wide variety of roles. He had great success with the leading role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), which soon achieved cult status. He also starred alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in the romantic comedy One Fine Day (Michael Hoffmann, 1996). His final breakthrough came in the role of Batman in the superhero film Batman & Robin (Joel Schumacher, 1997) with Chris O'Donnell. In the same year, he was voted "Sexiest Man Alive" by People Magazine. Clooney demonstrated a preference for whimsical roles such as in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) by the Coen brothers. However, he also took leading roles in commercially oriented films such as The Peacemaker (Mimi Leder, 1997) with Nicole Kidman, which featured him as an action hero. The thriller comedy Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh, 1998) with Jennifer Lopez and the war films The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998) and Three Kings (David O. Russell, 1999) with Mark Wahlberg, all received excellent reviews and did well at the box-office.

George Clooney received $20,000,000 for the blockbuster Ocean's Eleven (Steven Soderbergh, 2001), a remake of the heist comedy Ocean's 11 (Lewis Milestone, 1960), which also starred Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts. Later, he also went on to work as a producer, screenwriter and director. His directorial debut was the spy drama Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (George Clooney, 2002). He also directed the multi-award-winning historical drama Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005), for which he also was a co-screenwriter and one of the actors. Ocean's Eleven drew two sequels, Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh, 2004) and Ocean’s Thirteen (Steven Soderbergh, 2007), in which Clooney also starred. Important in this context was his friendship with director Steven Soderbergh, with whom he founded the company Section Eight. In 2006, it was announced that the company was wound up. Soon after, Clooney founded the production company Smoke House, with close friend Grant Heslov. Clooney appeared in several Coen Brothers films, including Burn After Reading (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 2008) with Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt, and Hail, Caesar! (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, 2016). He earned Oscar nominations for Best Actor for the legal thriller Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy, 2007), the comedy-dramas Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2009) and The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011). A huge box office hit was the Science Fiction thriller Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013) in which he co-starred with Sandra Bullock and which he also co-wrote. Clooney's directed the political drama The Ides of March (George Clooney, 2011), in which he also contributed to the screenplay and took on one of the leading roles. The film adaptation of Beau Willimon's play Farragut North focuses on a young idealistic press secretary (played by Ryan Gosling) who, as an employee of a presidential candidate (Clooney), is confronted with fraud and corruption in the Ohio primaries. His other productions as a director include the war film The Monuments Men (George Clooney, 2014), the crime drama Suburbicon (George Clooney, 2017), two episodes of the series Catch-22 (2019) and the Science-Fiction film The Midnight Sky (George Clooney, 2020). In 1989, George Clooney married actress Talia Balsam, from whom he divorced again in 1993. Clooney had several relationships in the past including with Lisa Snowdon (2000-2005), Sarah Larson (2007-2008), Elisabetta Canalis (2009-2011) and Stacy Keibler (2011-2013). Clooney vowed that he would never marry again. However, in 2014, Clooney married British-Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin; they married in law two days later. They became parents to twins, a daughter and a son, in 2017. This year George Clooney reunited with Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise (Ol Parker, 2022), for which they also served as executive producers.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English), and IMDb.

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British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 693. Photo: United Artists.

Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) was an American actor, screenwriter, producer and songwriter. After a rich Broadway career in the late 1910s and 1920s, he became a popular Hollywood star in pleasant and fast-paced musical film comedies in the early 1930s.

Eddie Cantor was born Edward Israel Iskowitz in 1892 in New York City, New York, USA. He was the son of amateur violinist Mechel Iskowitz (also Michael) and his wife Meta Kantrowitz Iskowitz (also Maite), a young Jewish couple from Russia. Both his parents died when he was still very young, and he was adopted and raised by his maternal grandmother, Esther Lazarowitz Kantrowitz. She called him Izzy and Itchik, both diminutives for Isidor. She supported herself and her grandson as a door-to-door peddler. The boy was educated in public schools. "Kantrowitz" was the name mistakenly assigned to the boy instead of his actual name, Iskowitz, by a public school registrar. It was shortened to Cantor. Eddie was the nickname given to him by his girlfriend, Ida Tobias, whom he later married. After winning $5 at a Bowery Theatre Amateur Night, the teenage Cantor knew where his destiny lay. One of his earliest paying jobs was a double position as a waiter and performer. He sang for tips at Carey Walsh's Coney Island saloon, where a young Jimmy Durante accompanied him on piano. He made his first public appearance in Vaudeville in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall, then became a member of the Gus Edwards Gang, later touring Vaudeville with Al Lee as the team Cantor & Lee. His grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz, died on 29 January 1917, two days before he signed a long-term contract with Broadway's top producer Florenz Ziegfeld, to appear in his "Follies". Eddie starred in the Ziegfeld rooftop post-show Midnight Frolic (1917) and in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1927. He also made Broadway stage appearances in 'Broadway Brevities of 1920', 'Make It Snappy' (1922), 'Kid Boots' (1923), 'Whoopee' (1928) and 'Banjo Eyes' (1941). For several years, Cantor starred in an act with pioneering comedian Bert Williams, both in blackface. Cantor played Williams' son. Other co-stars with Cantor during his time in the Follies included Will Rogers, Marilyn Miller, Fanny Brice and W.C. Fields. The successful Broadway series of 'Banjo eyes' in 1941 was cut short when Cantor suffered a major heart attack, the first of several that would dominate his later years.

Eddie Cantor also made numerous film appearances. He had previously appeared in a number of short films in the 1920s, performing his Follies songs and comedy routines, and in two silent feature films, Kid Boots (Frank Tuttle, 1926) with Clara Bow and Special Delivery (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1927). He was offered the lead role in The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927) after it was turned down by George Jessel, but Cantor also turned down the role so it went to Al Jolson. His best Hollywood years were spent under contract to Samuel Goldwyn, where Eddie turned out one big-budget musical comedy per year between 1930 and 1936. Eddie became a leading Hollywood star with the film version of Whoopee! (Thornton Freeland, 1930), shot in two-colour Technicolour. He continued to make films for the next two decades, including such hits as Palmy Days (A. Edward Sutherland, 1931), The Kid from Spain (Leo McCarey, 1932), Roman Scandals (Frank Tuttle, 1933) with Gloria Stuart, Kid Millions (Roy Del Ruth, Willy Pogany, 1934) co-starring Ann Sothern and Ethel Merman, Strike Me Pink (Norman Taurog, 1936) and Ali Baba Goes to Town (David Butler, 1937). His last leading role was in If You Knew Susie (Gordon Douglas, 1948) with Joan Davis. In the Warner Bros. biopic The Eddie Cantor Story (Alfred E. Green, 1953) he did a cameo appearance. He was the President of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 1933-1935. Cantor turned to radio with The Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1931. Performing as a standup comedian, he used his vaudeville experience to outstanding effect and combined the expression of patriotism and personal values with humour; audiences responded enthusiastically. With changes of name, the show continued for 18 years on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) networks. He also served as host of The Eddie Cantor Variety Theater, a half-hour television variety show that was syndicated in 1955. Cantor also made many records. His theme song was 'One Hour With You'. His other popular-song compositions include 'Get a Little Fun Out of Life', 'It's Great to Be Alive' and 'The Old Stage Door'. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "The offstage Cantor was not perfect, but most of the man's character flaws have been forgotten in the light of his inexhaustible work on behalf of dozens of charities, most prominently the March of Dimes. He also regularly put his career on the line through his union activities with Actors Equity, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio Artists, and flew in the face of bigotry and anti-Semitics through his work with the B'nai Brith and Jewish Relief." Eddie Cantor wrote the books 'Ziegfeld, the Great Glorifier' and 'As I Remember Them', and the autobiographies 'My Life Is In Your Hands' and 'Take My Life'. He received a Special Academy Award in 1956 for distinguished service to the film industry. Eddie Cantor died of a heart attack in 1964 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. His wife Ida had passed away two years earlier. They had five daughters, Marilyn Cantor Baker, Marjorie Cantor, Natalie Cantor, Edna Cantor McHugh and Janet Cantor Gari. Eddie Cantor is interred in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Britannica, Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

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